Why Me?
by Karai III
Summary: Alex has recovered sufficiently from his gunshot wound to sustain a vacation with Wolf as bodyguard and things are looking good. But Scorpia does not like to lose. Period. Therefore it is necassery to strike again.Much more devastatingly. Before Ark Angel
1. Chapter 1

"Alex, you need a vacation." Jack announced one evening at tea.

"I know Jack but I don't have time for a vacation. Not with PT and trying to catch up with my lessons." Alex sighed. That day had been particularly stressful, not that there were any especially difficult moments or tasks that day, its just that it was one of those days when the true reality of your situation hits you and you can't quite shake the feeling .

"Besides-"

"Just hear me out Alex. I went to the mall last week and I saw this guy selling sweepstake entry forms, he was just trying to hustle together some money I guess cause he looked like a hobo, the security guards threw him out soon after I left him" she frowned at the thought but continued "but anyhow I felt kind of sorry for him so I bought one. They were for the chance to win an all expense paid trip to Paris, France, a 7 day stay at the Hotel Ritz and 500 euros of spending money. I was felling kind of lucky so I entered, turns out I won!" she finished cautiously.

"Jack "Alex started exasperatedly "do you have any idea who that guy was or who he could be working for? It could have been a trap to get me to go to France for some reason, or worse, to get you to come so Scorpia could kidnap you. You have no-"

"Alex! Do you spend all your waking time thinking about Scorpia? Is the world so full of Scorpia agents so as to make normal life impossible?"

"You just don't understand Jack, when it comes to me they _are_ everywhere. You're not the one who has to deal with the pain in your chest every hour of the day and night because they wanted to get rid of you. You're not the one who was minding your own business when you were shot! It's not like-"

"But Alex!" Jack was nearly shouting now "You weren't minding your own business were you? You didn't have to get involved with Scorpia; MI6 didn't send you on that mission you went of your own accord because Yassen said something."

"So you're saying I should have _minded my own business_ and let every school kid in Britain, including my self, die?"

"Alex I didn't mean that."

"I don't know what you mean anymore; in fact I don't know what anyone means anymore. No one understands what I'm saying. As far as everyone is concerned, I'm just paranoid, pig-headed, aren't I?" Alex got up from the table to go to his room. "Well you're not the one whose had to save the world numerous times because the big boys were to lazy to do it, nor were you nearly killed eleven or something times in the process." He was just leaving the kitchen when he said with a sad smile "Its not like I wish it on anyone else or anything, I just wish someone would understand my wariness sometimes."

After he left, Jack thought over what just happened. "This just proves how much he needs some time to safely relax. I'll have to apologize when he calms down. In the mean time..." she went to the kitchen phone and made a call.

"Alex! I'm going out for a little, I'll be back in a little while okay?"

"Alright." he appeared at the top of the stairs. "Look I didn't mean to snap at you and all its" he ran his hand through his fair hair and sighed "it's just been a kind of depressing day, but I shouldn't have taken it out on you. I mean you were just trying to-"

"Shhh. It's alright Alex, I understand" she hugged him at the bottom of the steps "even though you think I don't some things I do." She drew back and looked him in the face. "You okay?"

"Yeah."

"Okay I'll be back in a little while."

When Alex woke up next morning, Saturday, he didn't remember if Jack had made it back or not, he must have fell asleep early. He felt a sudden wave of panic that subsided when he heard a knock at his door. _Come on snap out of this, Scorpia is NOT around every corner. _He told himself. "Come in."

Jack's red head poked in "I made breakfast for you, scrambled eggs, sausage and cranberry scones. Also we have somewhere to go after that. It's best if you didn't ask any questions till we arrived. See you when you get dressed."

Much mystified, Alex dressed and came down to eat. When he sat across from Jack at the table he tried to read her face but she gave away nothing.

Later, in the car, he noticed the route she took was taking him perilously close to the Royal & General Bank.

"Is this some kind of joke or am I meant to think that we're heading to MI6 headquarters? He asked trying to sound light.

"We are." Jack answered seriously. Before Alex could answer she pulled in the parking lot of the bank.

"Come on."

The look on Alex's face told her he didn't like this one bit, but he trusted her and that had to count for something.

I Blunt's office he sat down warily and eyed everyone in the room with a look of mere tolerance.

"What now?"

"We know you're recovering nicely from your injury." Jones began with a peppermint in her mouth.

Alex shot Jack a look that said "This is what I get for trusting you, another mission." She could tell he was hurt but she made no move to explain. She left that to Jones and Blunt.

"This is not another assignment Alex," Jones had noticed the look "and there is no reason for you to feel betrayed. We acknowledge that your last mission was… stressful and Miss Starbright would like to have you relax on a much earned vacation. However, we understand your lack of security. We've investigated the company offering the sweepstakes Miss Starbright won thoroughly and they are a completely legitimate tourism and travel agency. It has been a tradition of theirs to offer this promotion every 2 years to encourage tourist to use their agency and services on their trips. Paris, France has been featured twice already."

"But as further reassurance." Blunt interjected "You will be accompanied by someone else besides Miss Starbright. Some one solely for the purpose of protecting you."

"I believe you are familiar with him." Mrs. Jones added. She spoke into an intercom on Blunt's desk. "You may enter Mr. Mendoza.

Now Alex was really puzzled. He did not know anyone by the name of Mendoza and since when did not MI6 acknowledge him as anything besides an effective weapon against their enemies.

'Mr. Mendoza' walked into the room commenting "It's about time I was called. Long time no see Cub."

"Wolf!" Alex exclaimed. Jack began to look confused instead of knowing. "You know him Alex?"

"Yeah, we trained together for a couple weeks in the SAS. "

"And I saved your ass at that crackpot school of yours. Point Blanc was it?"

"Yeah, I remember. So your real name is Mendoza huh?"

"Yeah, but during this assignment of mine, you'll be calling me by my first name; Andros."

"Andros will be sharing your hotel room and will follow you and Miss Starbright where ever you go." Alan Blunt was saying

"And just how is he going to manage that. Unless he's to look-"

"He will pose as your older brother, Miss Starbright as your older sister. Are there any objections?" Jones asked

Alex smirked at Wolf "Nope."

Wolf and Jack glanced at each other "No." They answered.

"Good, you are clear to proceed as planned." Blunt was dismissing them.

As they made to exit the building Jack asked "Now do you feel better about it Alex?"

"Yeah. I shouldn't have been so hard on you. If MI6 says its clean then I'll assume that since my safety is in their best interest, then they are right. Thanks for everything Jack."

"No problemo."

"You're not going to enjoy this are you Andros?" Alex teased, trying out Wolf's real name.

"You know Alex, I'm tagging along to protect you from any hostile parties we may encounter, but there is NO one to protect you from me. Just keep that in mind would yuh. I got to go set a couple of things in order before we leave so I'll see you tomorrow at the airport."

"Can he be trusted Alex?" Jack asked worriedly as they entered her car.

"Wolf's trustworthy alright. He's just saying that because he knows I plan to give him a hard time."

"Well please don't. The last thing I want is him losing his temper on you, okay?"

Alex didn't answer "That might be interesting."

**Author's Note**

**Ok guys this is my first fanfic for Alex Rider. So play nice. However if you hate it let me know, love it please let me know and just generally tell me what you think of it. If you generally like it I'll try and update by the end of this week.**

**In case anyone was wondering how to do this, it is verry easy. Just click that little purple button labeled go beside 'submit review'. Go ahead now it won't bite. **


	2. Water Fight

**Disclaimer: Totally forgot. My name does not start with 'A' nor my last name with 'H' so there is no way my name is Anthony Horowitz. And I couldn't afford to buy the Alex Rider Series from him even if he'd let me. So that stated lets proceed with the story. **

On their way to the Ritz in the MI6 appointed black Hummer Limo, Alex felt that he had not been this relaxed in a while.

"So W- I mean Andros, how come you have babysitting time on your hands all of a sudden?" he asked as he casually flipped through the channels on the built in 48" plasma screen across from him.

"It's not like I feel particularly safe with you along or anything. I'm more assured by the fact that the company isn't a fake. But I still wonder why you agreed."

Wolf turned to look at him from staring out the window while Jack just looked worriedly at Alex. "If I were you Alex, I would not feel especially safe either, being around me. Because if you keep getting on my nerves, a bunch of Scorpia agents is going to be the least of your worries. However in answer to your question, it was a matter of choice, either I baby-sit you, or go with the rest of K-unit to quiet the violent protestors over in Kensington Gardens."

"If it weren't for this vacation I'd be down there protesting too." Jack interjected, looking up from her Paris fashions magazine "What kind of knucklehead would propose turning a piece of that beautiful place into a housing complex. Pure insanity."

"Right, well looking after you may not be in the least bit fun, but it's definitely less stressful."

"Who said? Aren't little brothers supposed to be annoying and stressful?" Alex asked with a dangerous look. For some reason it seemed as of this whole big brother, thing was somehow particularly interesting to him. Perhaps it was because he was an only child with no parents, but if Wolf didn't know any better he'd have thought Alex wanted him to lose his temper on him.

In truth, Alex was somewhat experimenting with the idea of sibling spats, namely brother /brother. Knowing that he could provoke Wolf to wrath and basically incur only minor damage was an appealing thought. Of course he would not go so far as to make Wolf hurt him but the temptation was still there. Also it was an immensely comforting thought to be able to confidently hand over ones safety to another. Despite what he'd said earlier, he did feel safer with Wolf along but he wasn't going to let Wolf know that.

"For your information, I said, and if you know what's good for you, you'll leave it at that." Andros gave him a hard look which Alex met squarely. After a few seconds Alex smiled, "Point taken."

"Good." And they went back to their respective activities leaving Jack to figure out what had passed between them.

As Wolf watched the scenery flying past on their way down L'Autoroute du Nord from Charles de Gaulle International Airport, he thought about how he felt when Alex smiled like that. It made him seem so much more a child than Wolf had ever seen. He began to wonder just what had he been training for when they met in Wales. It must have been some pretty grim stuff to have the boy looking like a forty instead of fourteen year old. He glanced at Alex again and noted that he definitely seem more at ease now, more like a teenager; playing his video game having gotten bored with the TV. Yes this trip would certainly do him some good.

When Alex entered the sitting room of their Ritz suite next morning, he heard Jack and Andros discussing what they were going to do that day, actually Jack was _telling_ Wolf what he and Alex would be doing that day, but then they looked up and saw Alex.

When Jack saw Alex her face lit up. Seeing him in the thick royal blue dressing gown and house slippers that the hotel had provided free as an under aged privilege, with that look of an excellent nights sleep on his face just made her heart soar. She had not seen him so relaxed and rested in months.

"Bonjour Alex! I take it you slept well." She said, hugging him. "Yeah." he answered trying to fight his way out of her embrace. "You can hardly help it when you're lost in a sea of velvet, silk and pillows all night."

"I'm glad to hear it. Sit down and have some café and croissants."

"Thanks"

"So Andros, how did you sleep? I hardly have to ask Jack, she's just overflowing with energy."

"At first I thought I was going to fall through the bed. It was so much soft than all the places I always sleep." Alex laughed when he imagined what Wolf must of did when he first sat on the bed. "But I have to admit, then I slept like a log."

As Alex helped himself to a chocolate croissant, Jack told him what she had planned for that day. "I think you'll benefit from a session in the Ritz Health Club. You could do with a good massage and a spa treatment. Then-"

"But Jack I feel fine now, and I don't get pedicures and facials and all that stuff." Wolf snickered beside him. "Besides you think I want to deal with them asking me about all my scars and bruises?"

" I'm one step ahead of you Dear. I went out this morning to the beauty store and found the perfect solution to your problem." She took out a bottle of body paint. "It's the exact shade of your skin and it's dense. Nothing will show through, and it only comes off with its own soap. No need to worry about it coming off in the pool or Jacuzzi."

"Thanks Jack. You have thought of everything haven't you?" He didn't have the heart to object again, so instead he started on teasing Wolf again "So you're up to having your nails painted too?"

"Look Alex, Jack said_ you_ were getting the works. I'll just get me a massage and then I'll stand by."

"Come on you two don't argue, we don't want to get down there when the place is full."

But when they got there the place was not full. There were only few other people enjoying themselves.

The first thing the group did upon arrival was enter the pool. The water was a pleasant temperature and Alex went under immediately. Jack practiced her backstroke, while Andros just relaxed thinking there was no way this could be more stressful than calming angry mobs of people. No sooner had he thought that than he felt himself suddenly pulled under. When he came up he saw Alex grinning over him.

"Come on Andros you can do better than that. You going to let a kid sneak up on you like that?" he sneered.

"You got spunk squirt. I'll give you that much, but don't count on your luck lasting forever." Alex just raised one eyebrow in challenge and went swiftly back under. Andros started to think that Alex was right; if he could sneak up that easily then he definitely wasn't doing his job.

He was just in time to see Alex come up behind him in the water. "I'm glad to see your back on your toes, for a moment there I thought you were losing your touch."

"Okay Alex you've been asking for it. It's time you appreciated your betters."

"Um, Andros try not to hurt him would yuh?" Jack pleaded. As Alex darted off in the water with a laugh, the first thing Andros noticed was that Alex had a mean breaststroke. The boy had put two meters between the two of them in less than two seconds. When Alex resurfaced at the other end of the pool he realized Andros was nowhere insight, as soon as the thought had formed he felt him self grabbed from behind. Immediately after being caught he tried to fight free but then felt the strangest sensation in the top of his head. Like someone was trying to light his hair a fire by friction. "What's the matter never had someone give you a good noogi?" Wolf asked deviously. Alex managed to elbow him in the stomach and swam off again. Wolf knew Alex was only playing but he still felt as if Alex had been responding to the capture subconsciously as an hostile attack if that elbow jab was any indication.

Seeing that they were indeed playing, Jack turned her attention to the none too bad-looking French man catching her eye over by the recliner benches.

Wolf immediately followed Alex under and snatched his ankle so he couldn't get a way. For an instant Alex froze. A horrifying instant when he was reminded of being trapped in the bend of that 'j' shaped well under the Grand Canal when Nile tried to drown him. Then with tremendous force he wrenched his foot away and surfaced. The look that Wolf saw on his face as he broke the surface too was one of pure panic, but it disappeared in almost the same instant and was replaced by a mixed apologetic, self-reprimanding look. Fortunately this was not seen by Jack who was very busy talking to her new French friend, but it thoroughly puzzled Wolf. Had he triggered some insufferable memory causing Alex to act that way?

"You okay Cu- Alex?"

"Yeah, I'm fine." He swam over to the edge and climbed out drying off, all of a sudden very glad for the body paint Jack bought to hide all his scars from questioning eyes. "I think we should head over to the massagers and leave Jack to her conversations." he announced giving a weak smile. _You got to get over this Alex. _He told himself. _Next thing you know people start asking questions and you can't answer. You know Wolf was just playing even though you didn't know it was possible, but the truth of the matter is he's going to have his eye out for another reaction like that and probably treat you like porcelain from now on before you know it he's prying for answers. _He sighed quietly. Good things never lasted did they? But then he was in the very capable hands of the therapist having all his worries and excess tension kneaded out. Wolf actually needed one of those delicately petite women to walk on his back to make a sufficient impact.

But the intended effect was there, and by the time they were done with his face, hands and feet unnecessarily, and he was in the Jacuzzi two and a half hours later, he felt like sleeping again.

**Ok folks, that's the second chapter, hope you like it. I know it had no action but the truth is I kind of feel evil wrenching Alex out of this relaxing trip to have Scorpia bite into him. He does so need it doesn't he? But the action starts next chapter. **

**And now a little poll if you will:**

**Do you like the three with the personalities they have or are some people unpleasantly OOC? **

**If satisfied, then thank you;**

**If not, please specify what the problem is, and thank you either way.**

**Next chapter should be up by Wednesday. See ya **


	3. Alex reveals all

**Disclaimer: I do not own Alex rider or any of its components.**

**This chapter is a good deal longer than the ones before and it marks the beginning of Alex's most dangerous encounter with Scorpia. The only way it could get worse is if he died. And it's the beginning of a painful time for Wolf as well.**

"Well that was rejuvenating." Jack commented upon there return to the suite. "I haven't felt so radiant since I was a teenager."

"Are you sure it's only the spa treatment you have to thank?" Alex asked knowingly, but Jack pretended not to here him. "While you two were off water fighting or whatever it was,-"

"I was teaching Alex a lesson." Wolf informed

"Whatever," she waved her hand impatiently "While you were doing that, I met a guy named Charles, we talked and he's really very nice. When I mentioned to him that we were going to the Louvre. He suggested that we-"

"Wait a minute." Wolf held up his hands for quiet. "When you were talking this morning I didn't say anything about spending the day in a stuffy art museum, but now that you're going with this guy I really wouldn't mind hauling my ass somewhere other than an art museum. Not that there is anything wrong with art, but it's not my idea of interesting."

"You're not supposed to be doing interesting stuff. You're supposed to protect Alex–"

"Look Jack, what he means is that we don't want to intrude." Alex interjected before things got ugly and Jack said to much.

"What do you mean _we?"_

"You know I can't spend that much time in a art museum. I never wanted to go but," he held up his hand for her to let him finish when she began to protest. "but, I want you to enjoy yourself. This is your vacation too and if you've met a new friend and liked to spend some time to get to know him, I of all people do not want to get in the way."

"But Alex, I intended to spend the time with you so you could relaxed and unwind, you can hardly do that spending all your time with this guy who you seem ill at ease with, and after all you've been through then" at this last bit, a flash of annoyance crossed Alex's face but Jack didn't see it, only Wolf did.

"Jack." Alex cut her off "You've met someone new, and I haven't allowed you much peace of mind for that back home, and it's only fair that I allow you this chance to be yourself for a change and relax. Stop taking care of me and take care of your self for a pleasant change. You can't truthfully admit that you enjoy looking after me 24/7, so take your chance while you have it. Besides," he glanced at Wolf who had sat down on the plush sofa with a look of mild annoyance to wait out the argument. "Andros and I have a little business to attend to. It just a little walk in the park." he added when he saw the look on Jack's face, but he enjoyed the look of bewilderment on Wolf's own.

"Since you want to get rid of me so completely, I'm going." she finally conceded in a hurt voice.

In a few minutes she left to meet Charles in the lobby without another word.

Alex was in Wolf's and his room getting ready to take a shower. "What's this business that you and I have to attend to?" Wolf asked.

"Wait till I wash this stuff off." Alex answered and added with a silent look, _not here. _He went into the bathroom leaving Wolf wondering just what kind of child Alex was.

Wolf had been around teens before and they weren't that mature, hardly that mature. Alex was always alert and he never left anything to chance. Apparently Alex felt they were under surveillance and now he could understand the look of annoyance on his face when it seemed like Jack might be saying too much. He was beginning to wonder if Alex was plain paranoid or if he had good reason to be this cautious, and for that matter what exactly he had done for MI6. He proceeded to discreetly search the suite while Alex showered, to be sure.

After Alex had been in the shower for nearly 30 minutes and he had found nothing, Wolf went to see if he ever intended on coming out and elaborating on this business thing. He was heading back to the bedroom when he heard Alex scream. He rushed to the bathroom door and cursed when he found it locked. He was just about to kick it down when Alex unlocked it himself and stumbled out with his towel around his waist, his entire body red like he'd been in the sun for WAY to long. He sat down on the bed, his face contoured in pain and most prominent of all his freshly revealed scars was a very red mark on the right side of his chest.

"Care to tell me what the HELL is going on?!" Wolf shouted

"The water suddenly began to boil when I was rinsing off." Alex stated

"So are you ok?" He asked softening

Alex didn't answer; instead he looked down at the scar on his chest.

"About that," Wolf started

Alex gave him a deadly stare and got dressed, without answering, then signaled for him to follow him outside in silence. The infuriating thing was that he wasn't sneaking, just plainly not speaking and the secrecy was driving Wolf mad.

He felt like punching the boy but held his peace.

When they got outside he exploded "What the hell is all this about and I want you to start with that scar on your chest.

Alex waited until they had left Place Vendome and had turned onto Rue Saint Honore before he answered.

"How much do you know about what I do?"

"Next to nothing Alex, I was just told you needed protection on this trip because you have acquired some enemies." Wolf answered in disgust.

Alex sighed and looked at Wolf in a critical way. But when Wolf looked down on him, he saw a young face with barely suppressed misery written all over it.

"Did you know we've been under surveillance since we booked the suite?" he asked

"Alex, I searched the whole place for the damn things while you were in the shower and I haven't found one bug." they turned onto Rue D'alger and continued south towards the Tuileries gardens.

"It's because you don't know where to look Andros. There is one in the mirror above the chest of drawers. You wouldn't notice it because it's made to look just a crack in the mirror."

"But Alex, how would you know?"

"We're being followed." Alex stated suddenly, that guy behind us, the one with the red hair?" Wolf nodded tolerably "He's the concierge whose has been attending to us since we arrived, but now he doesn't have on that ridiculous blond wig anymore."

"But Alex, how do you know for sure?" Wolf asked in a tired tone.

"Just watch and keep up please so I can lose him." and then he took off down the road at breakneck speed causing pedestrians to turn their heads in astonishment.

Wolf found that he had to push himself a little to catch him.

Alex shot across Rue Du Mont Thabor and nearly met in a head on collision with a car coming to the stop. Instead of stopping he deliberately rolled across the hood of the car and kept going. Meanwhile the supposed tail took off after him with determination. Wolf stopped just in time to avoid being hit by the motorist whose was now swearing profoundly in French. When the car passed he just caught sight of Alex trying to cross Rue de Rivoli to get into the park but he seemed to be having trouble. His right arm was cradled against his chest as if hurt and he seemed to be going slower. When he met the boy on the Tuileries Gardens' side of the road he noticed that their pursuer had drawn a gun equipped with a silencer. He pushed Alex to the ground just when a shot rang out. "Okay I believe you now." Wolf admitted in a rush as they ran east up the walk towards the park rides to blend in with crowd but unfortunately there was no crowd, so they were still in plain view of there pursuer.

Alex unexpectedly grabbed one of the branches hanging over their heads from the trees lining the walk, and grimaced as he used his apparently injured wrist. A bullet whizzed pass just as Alex pulled himself up and Wolf felt it graze his shoulder.

He turned around and drew his weapon from its hip holster realizing that Alex was doubling back to ambush their attacker from above. Wolf raised his gun and took aim to incapacitate but not kill, and shot. At the moment that the guy yelled out in pain Alex dropped from the tree right above him onto his back. Then he grabbed the man by the back of the head with vicious strength and asked "Who do you work for?" Wolf came over and repeated the question with venom. But instead the guy just smirked at them and broke his pinky finger, apparently releasing a potent poison into his system, because he was dead in five seconds. Alex stood up and rubbed his sore wrist with a serious look on his face. " He was almost certainly from Scorpia." he stated quietly Since we've taken care of that business, I guess we should have that talk."

"About time." But Wolf was worried about the fact that Alex seemed hardly troubled by the man's suicidal death and his apparent knowledge of this tracker for some time now. Yep, he definitely needed to find out what was going on once and for all.

They sat down on one of the benches surrounding an old carousel further down the path in a grove of trees. The place was secluded and peaceful but still Alex hesitated. Wolf looked down at him and seeing the uncertainty on his face, felt he should say something to ease it.

"Alex if it's a lot of harrowing stuff you're keeping up, its best you tell someone about it." He snorted but continued "I know I'm not your idea of a sympathetic ear and I've been practically forcing you to tell me, but the fact of the matter is; I'm kinda worried about you."

Alex smirked "_You_ worried about _me?_ I thought you couldn't stand my guts."

"I know I was a jerk to you back at the camp, and I'm not making excuses, because there is no justification for what I did, but you gotta understand that it was kinda like a humiliation on K-unit to have a child placed among us. It was like saying that we're a second rate unit therefore that's were you belong, but it turns out you're not second rate, but you couldn't get me to believe otherwise back then. So the truth is, I don't hate you, you're an annoying little bugger but I can't say I even dislike you." Alex looked up at him with a curious expression on his face.

"But, I don't know, it's just that it's so complicated and unbelievable that-" he sighed running his hand through his hair

"Okay you win." he got up to walk around a bit trying to ease the pain of the overall scalding he'd endured earlier, Then he started from the beginning, from the point when he found out about his uncle's death, straight through every detail of every mission ending with his gunshot wound from Scorpia.

When Alex stopped talking, he sat down and rested back against the bench and the two spent about three hours asking and answering each others questions, Wolf doing most of the asking.

"You know, I don't mind the action, but when I get so close to dieing or losing the mission, it gets stressful, to say the least and then I start to wish I had someone to help me bear it. You know what I mean?" Wolf nodded understandingly

"So let me get on more thing straight, This Blunt guy and his second in command expect you to save the world every month, but they don't pay you, they don't give you adequate protection, there's nothing done to see that you continue your schooling therefore you might fail your GCSEs and anytime you try to refuse, they threaten to ship you off to boarding school and send Jack home?"

"You got it." Alex answered, yawning fighting to keep his eyes open. Wolf noticed this and how pale he looked all of a sudden and was instantly alarmed. "Alex, are you alright?" Alex took a moment answering "I feel like I've been poisoned or something. It's like when Stollenbosch gave me that stuff to drink in that phony restaurant, except I haven't eaten anything since breakfast." He rubbed his eyes trying to wake up.

Wolf jumped up and pulled him to his feet. "Don't succumb to it Alex, you may feel better if you eat something, it's been a while since you ate, but you can't quell the hunger if you can't stand up."

"You don't have to shout Wolf I can hear you well enough." Alex shook his head to clear it but it didn't work and instead fell against Wolf. But he immediately recoiled from the heat of Wolf's body which aggravated all his burns. "That's it, stand up straight or you'll get burned." Wolf didn't like saying it but it was a rational way for Alex to stay awake. Alex grimaced at the sound of his voice. "I said stop shouting, its making my head hurt."

Wolf hurriedly pulled him along by the shoulder so as not to provoke the burns on his arm. It accord to him that this incident in the shower could have been a deliberate thing, a minor piece in plan to get revenge on Alex. It made him grimace inwardly to think of the boy being subject to such monstrosities.

He led them to a small restaurant he'd seen across the street from Place Vendome called Le Chaumiere. He almost had to hall Alex in and get him to sit up straight but Alex managed to hold together and remember his French so the waiter could take their orders. After the waiter left, Alex put his head down on the table drowsily.

"No Alex, try and remember when exactly you started to feel like this." Alex lifted his head to protest about the noise. He couldn't understand why the other diners weren't looking over at them because of the noise.

"A li-little after- after we levt the ho-hotel." he answered his words slurring. Just then the waiter returned with their sandwiches; roast beef &provolone on an onion croissant, along with their ice cold Cokes. Wolf forced Alex to eat until it was finished and he'd drained the Coke, then he asked in a very low voice whether Alex felt any better. "I think I will after another Coke, they seem to help a little." encouraged by Alex's much clearer speech, Wolf handed him his Coke which had remained untouched along with the sandwich. After he'd downed that one as well he seemed mush more alert.

"You said this started when we left the hotel earlier?" Wolf asked, but Alex still frowned from the volume of his voice.

"Yeah but I can't pinpoint what could have caused it, But I know it's poison." he frowned and laid his head down again.

"Think we should call Jack and head back to London, this is not a mission, it'sss an attempt to to kill me, and Scor-Scorpia's respons-sible." His words had begun to slur again. Wolf got up and dragged him up to leave. When they got outside he turned the corner to contact Jack and MI6 but was confronted by three hostile figures.

"Hand over the boy and you'll be speared." one of them said. "Just what do you take me for? A lady?" Wolf drew his weapon again and fired the man in the shoulder. Alex was rapidly losing consciousness and Wolf realized when the other two Scorpia agents grabbed him that this was a battle he couldn't win. But before Alex lost consciousness completely, he activated a watch that Smithers had sent him as a get well present when he was in the hospital and sent out a distress signal. At the same moment he fell to the ground as Wolf was shot in the leg.

Quite an evil cliffy don't you think. But I think you all can wait till Friday before I rescue you.

New poll:

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	4. Why Me?

**Disclaimer: I don't think I need to say that again do I?**

**This chapter is heavy so I suggest you read with caution.**

When Wolf came to, it was because whatever sedative they had given him had worn off and was replaced with a searing pain in the back of his leg from the gunshot wound. He looked around noticing that he was is a large drab room with a few storage boxes strewn here and there and only one light fixture in a corner of the room ahead of him and no windows, he also noticed that he was in the center of the room on his knees with both his wrists and ankles bound with cheese wire. If so much as wiggled his wrists to much, he'd kill himself. And in the corner under the light, sitting on a stool wide awake was Alex; he seemed to be contemplating escape instead of listening to the short Chinese looking man with a lab coat on talking to him in a patronizing tone and he hadn't yet realized that Wolf was awake. The short man was saying "It's been a while hasn't it Alex? You didn't even bother to write." he tsked and walked over to a rolling tray behind him that he kept just out of Alex's view. "That's not very kind of you."

"You know doctor; it really doesn't suit your character or face to attempt at humor or joking. I mean it enhances your natural ugliness. Not even your mother could deny how ugly you are, with out the added burden of joking." Alex informed him in a cool tone.

Wolf was surprised, amused and worried at the gall Alex had to dis his captors like that.

"Get up off the stool Alex." Dr. Three commanded in a dead voice.

"What ever you say Doctor, my butt was going dead anyway." Wolf couldn't help but think that Alex didn't know what he was getting at provoking this man that way, because if Wolf was correct, that tray behind Dr. Three was covered in torture equipment. **(A/N: if there is anyone reading this with a queasy stomach, I suggest skipping over the torture scenes to the part when Wolf gets to talk to Alex. Alex will not die but he WILL be VERY close to it. It justifies the death I have in store for all of Scorpia's executive members) **

"I challenge you to a duel to choose your death. If you win, then I will not be the one to kill you, the Australian man will do it, but if I win I will torture you till you die of pain, and I am an expert on pain and torture. It will be my instruments against your skills."

"But-" Alex jumped out of the way just in time as a very small blade whizzed pass his face. If it had found its mark he would have been Mr. Grin the Second.

"Oh did I neglect to say go? How forgetful of me.Go!" Three dropped some kind of contraption onto the cold concrete floor that resembled a metal spider which immediately charged after Alex and began to crawl up his body to reach his face. Wolf watched in horror as the spider thing's legs which were knives cut into Alex's body and face rendering it almost completely covered in blood.

"LEAVE HIM ALONE!!" Wolf bellowed, but Three just glanced at him and laughed.

"So you're awake, now we have an audience Alex, you friend here can watch you die in helpless surrender," he turned to Wolf "he will die very painfully I assure you. Ten, see to it that this man is totally incapable of escaping. If he does you will become subject to my next experiment, understood?" "Yes sir"

Wolf had not realized the guard stationed behind him until now. Obviously he was very well trained in what he did.

Alex in the mean time had managed to remove the cursed thing from his face and hurled it by it's top at the doctor, gasping in pain, he could barely see for all the blood in his eyes.

"Very good Alex, here try this." Three then threw him a coil of wire similar to what Wolf was bound with. Alex wisely did not touch it and it sailed pass him and hit the floor. But the instant it made contact with the floor it rapidly uncoiled. Having landed on the diagonal, the rounds of wire repeatedly slashed Alex's right thigh instead of ankle, in numerous places. Screaming in pain he fell to the floor clutching his thigh. Three took this chance to viciously kick Alex in the exact spot where the bullet had entered his chest. He was delighted to see the look of utter agony on his face as Alex gasped and opened his mouth in a silent scream of excruciating pain.

"STOP IT YOU #$# BEAST!" Wolf yelled trying to brake free despite the danger of slitting his wrist, he wasn't going to sit here and have the boy cut to pieces before his face. No sir, he was would take his place first. But the guard behind him was doing his job and doing it well.

Alex looked at Dr. Three with eyes full of woe and hatred. "You cheated." he rasped "You said only your equipment."

"Did I imply that I would play by the rules? You still haven't learned that the world isn't fair have you? Poor child." he turned to retrieve another instrument from his tray of evil, but as he turned, Alex reached out and with all his strength pulled his ankle so that the man was sent crashing to the floor and thoroughly broke his nose and lost three teeth in the front.

Three got up in a flash, wiped the blood from his face and downed Alex who had just risen, with a devastating blow to the jaw with his heel. Wolf heard the bone crack and felt his stomach turn in agony for the boy. He fell into some boxes near to Wolf and surprisingly got right up. Three made his way over to the spot where Alex was busy spitting out two molars that had been knocked out along with a lot of blood. He was started to make his way over to Wolf trying to tell him something, but before he got to him, Three slashed him across the back with a wicked looking knife. Alex screamed his worst yet and fell to the ground but got up in a second and continued his journey.

"So we are persistent are we? Ten, move the man to the other side of the room, let's see how you reach him when he's constantly moving."

Wolf took advantage of the man's mistake in trying to move him and sprung into action. He rolled onto his back and with all the strength of both legs, kicked, sending the man hurling into the wall were he stayed. Wolf's leg burned like fire but he barely noticed, all he wanted to do was save Alex from this hellhole. He rolled again and stood up.

"Make one more move and I will mutilate the boy beyond recognition." Through all this Alex had kept up his steady but painful progress towards Wolf to give him his message. But just when he was in lip reading range, Three grabbed and yanked back his arm so forcefully that Wolf heard and saw the shoulder pop out of socket. Wolf knew then that if he came out of this alive he would never be able to get that look or scream out of his mind again. Three was about to kick Alex in the same spot again when Wolf lost it. He rolled over to the tray full of pain and grabbed the first knife he could reach but Three was faster. "Didn't I say not to move."

He grabbed Alex by his other arm and began to, slowly this time, dislocate it also. Alex cried in agony " Help me Wolv I can take en more. Hel me. Please" the words were distorted because of his broken jaw and the immense pain, but Wolf understood them perfectly and he couldn't do a thing, because if he moved again, Three would kill Alex in the worst way possible sooner rather than later.

Alex lost consciousness when the other shoulder popped. But Dr. Three just took a hypodermic syringe from his white lab coat and injected Alex with the contents, jolting him awake mercilessly. "Don't worry Alex; I'll be back in a minute with the grand finale. It will all be over in a matter of very painful minutes."

Alex could say nothing, he was rapidly going into shock, hoping he would die before he came back. As soon as the door was closed Wolf rolled back over to him cursing the damn wire around his ankles and wrist stopping him from helping Alex. "Wolv?"

"I'm right here Alex." Wolf realized it would be the first time since his training as a solider, that he let tears fall from his eyes, but no one with even a piece of a heart could do otherwise while looking at the broken body of the once serious but lively youth before him.

"M…6 comin… called before."

"You called MI6?" Wolf asked with hope in his voice.

"Alex barely nodded then said "Le me undo th wire."

Wolf turned, giving Alex his wrist, wondering what the boy could do with both shoulders out of socket. But some how, while steadily slipping away into shock Alex used the wires to cut each other and just as the door opened with Dr. Three and the rest of executive members strolling in, Wolf's wrist and ankles were free. As Levi Kroll entered the room an alarmed sounded. 'Intruders detected. Intruders detected.' a male voice droned. The others besides Three left immediately to see that the security breach was properly corrected. "Hurry up and finish with the boy." the Australian man shouted "We have much preparation to do. And no time for your petty games" Dr. Three shut the door and made his way over to Alex with a saw. When he was just close enough Wolf dropped the pretense of still being bound and swung both feet out at lightning speed tripping the evil man again but he did not let go of the saw. He sprung up and screeched "How did you get free?!!" realizing that he would not win by strength or skill he contrived to take Alex with him by throwing the saw with all his might directly at Alex.

"NOO!" Wolf moved faster than he had ever done in his life and intercepted the saw, he was not able to catch it but he took a glancing but damaging blow on his for arm for Alex and successfully stopped it from hurting the child any more. Aided by his rage, Wolf went into overdrive against Dr. Three. **(I would rather not describe what Wolf did to him for it was worse than what he had done to Alex. All I can say that I wish I could have done it myself.) **When Wolf's adrenaline wore down marginally, Three was little more than a mass of flesh, blood and bone. Wolf had done no more than necessary, the man some how kept on coming back for more until he'd gotten what was coming for him. Wolf had no regrets; he didn't see him as a part of the human race any rather a severe taint in it. The next moment MI6 personnel including a fully trained paramedic barged in and rushed into the room. They immediately set to checking Alex, taking desperate measure to preserve his life which was quietly but quickly slipping away. Wolf however, quietly slipped away, vowing that he would finish what he had started with Dr. Three. He could not rest with a easy conscience until he did.

**Okay now people, no flames or otherwise derogatory reviews please. I know it was cruel and I don't hate Alex at all, but the deaths of the Scorpia members are so much more justified by it and Alex will make a full recovery and the story will have a happy ending. But this story was going to be heavy from the beginning and I warned y'all in the chapter before.**

**Next chapter up sometime Wednesday and if you do have something nice to say please, please, say it.**

**Thanks! **


	5. I'm Glad Your Alive

**Well here it is guys, hope you like it.**

**Disclaimer: I do not feel like stating the obvious again.**

Wolf got up from his spot beside, Alex to silently slip away. The paramedics were working frantically to save him; he'd lost so much blood that his blood pressure had dropped to a horrifying level and his pulse wasn't really there. The deep gash across his back and the large incisions in his right thigh were the main points of blood loss and they were trying to stem the flow. The chief paramedic barked at Wolf; "Do you know his blood type? He needs blood fast." "He's a type A." The man had noticed that Wolf was injured at first glance because of the pallor of his face and the way he held his hand at a tender angle, so he turned to one of his other trusted companions to be prepped to give blood. As Wolf was leaving to find the rest of the Scorpia members, he heard the medic say that if they didn't get the child to the ambulance in the next two minutes he'd die.

The thought wrenched Wolf's heart and gave him the strength to get going despite his damaged leg, broken arm from the saw hitting it, and his bleeding wrists. Fortunately for him the part of his wrist were the vital arteries were located were faced inward while they were bound, so the parts of them that were bleeding would not cause him to lose blood so quickly. For this he was thankful and with renewed resolve he made his way out the door that the MI6 personnel had just come through moments before.

Out in the hall, he saw a group of SAS operatives conversing on their attack pattern with the leader of the team, one of whom he recognized instantly.

"Tiago! What are you doing here?" Wolf exclaimed

"Hey there little bro!" Wolf and the man embraced in a brief manly hug, Wolf being mindful of his broken arm. When they pulled back, Wolf repeated his question "What are you doing here, I thought you were in Iraq?"

"Well, I finished my assignment over in the Middle East a couple weeks ago and I was taking care of some low priority assignments when MI6 sent me to out here, they said it was a critical situation needing a EOD (bomb expert) and you were here. I said I couldn't let my little bro have all the excitement could I? So here I am, but tell me what are you doing in Venice?"

Wolf had been zoned out of the conversation most of the time only hearing bits and pieces while he listened to the voices he heard a few doors down the dark secretive hall. Adrenaline had sharpened his senses and he realized that the others had not heard anything as their assault pattern was made clear. Santiago realized that Wolf wasn't there and repeated the inquiry.

"Andros, what were you doing here in Venice before the situation got this way?" Then Wolf realized that his brother was telling him that they were in Venice, yet they had just been in France. Just how long had they been missing? Before he could answer, they were barked out of the way by the paramedics racing by with Alex on a stretcher. It seemed impossible to move at that speed with out jarring the poor child further but somehow they managed it and were gone in a second.

"Whoa, what happened in there, do you know him?" Santiago asked when he saw the pained look on Wolf's face when he saw the broken body of the boy. Santiago himself felt sick at seeing a child that way, but the look on Wolf's face was more personal.

Wolf turned to him with a stony face and said, "Yes I do know him, he's the reason I'm here in Venice" he'd remembered after a moment that Alex had told him that Scorpia's head quarters were in Venice. If it weren't for the paramedics passing by the slip up would have been caught by Santiago and though he always meant well, Wolf couldn't afford for him to find out about the true nature of the situation, especially his injuries, just yet. He would no doubt have had Wolf pulled out of the operation. He was still that protective of his little brother even now that Wolf was a 20 something year old man. It could be very maddening at times, but it was the way things had been ever since the accident.

"And he's the reason that we need to get moving to stop these guys."

Santiago looked at him curiously but then turned back to their lieutenant.

Wolf took off down the hall were he'd heard the talking while the others headed in the direction the paramedics took. The whole basement radiated secrecy and it was unnerving the way how there were no guards in sight. Before Wolf had reached the door he thought housed the voices, he heard a much louder voice coming from a speaker some where near the point were he'd seen the others who had now stopped.

"Good afternoon gentlemen, Wolf you may want to make your way over here so as to better hear what I have to say, it does concerns you." So they were being watched. Wolf stood his ground while the other operative, Santiago especially, shot him curious glances. "What you did to our colleague Dr. Three is in no wise excusable, but it is no great loss; he is replaceable. As I speak there are nuclear bombs placed in strategic locations in all the countries of the founding members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization these bombs have enough power to take out a small city. In exactly 8 minutes the master bomb located in this very building will detonate, triggering the detonation of the other bombs along with it. As I speak we are making our way to a safe haven were we will watch this carnage in luxury with half of our client's payment. We carry the remote ourselves and if you try to diffuse the bomb the remote will respond and detonate all bombs instantly. You might like to know Wolf, that Alex has no chance of recovering; all the instruments used to torture him were first treated with a poison to ensure that death would follow within the hour." on seeing the stony vengeful look on Wolf's face, the man laughed " I thought you might like it. As you can see nothing has been left to chance, that is how we operate, and one more thing gentlemen, there are multiple fakes planted all around the basement you now occupy, any attempt to diffuse one of these in the hope that it is the real one will result in instant detonation of the true ones as well. G'day mates." the conclusion of the message was met with stunned silence until the team's leader broke it; "Get moving! You heard him we got 8 freaking minutes to find and diffuse the real thing!Move!"

But Wolf and Santiago were already gone; Wolf racing down the hall at the greatest speed he could manage with his leg in it's condition, Santiago on his heels. In a few seconds Wolf reached the doors were he knew he'd heard the voice, which was the same as the one from the message. They had lied; at least that man was still in the building beyond this door perhaps guarding the bomb. Wolf reached out to open the door and was knocked aside, immediately after he heard a shot. "You need to watch it bro, the guy's armed. You should have remembered that he'd be." Santiago had moved his brother out of the range of fire and drawn his own weapon in one move. He instantly jump up and took the offensive, but Wolf took a little longer and it was then that Santiago realized that he was injured; considerably. "Stay back!" He warned as they advanced into the uncannily empty room. "Save it Tiago." and Wolf pushed pass him and cautiously entered. He nearly got shot again but moved faster than expected and had the man's gun arm behind him in a second. But the man just smiled. "Well isn't this a pleasant surprise? Help your self; I appear to be a little occupied at the moment anyway. Santiago went over to the ticking bomb in the corner of the room. There was no way of telling if it was fake or not. "Tell me whether it's the fake or not." Wolf demanded in a voice that shocked his brother even considering the situation. "Now you don't really expect me to tell you that you imbecile, it's classified information and it's impossible to find the true bomb and diffuse the rest. Your so edgy because of what we did to the boy aren't you? I had no idea you had grown so attached to him, well he had it coming, meddling in the affairs of adults." The man was obviously trying to provoke Wolf to wrath and it seemed he had succeeded. Santiago looked up from his work trying to identify the bomb as a fake, and saw a look on Wolf's that he had only seen once before in the all of Wolf's 28 years. A second later he heard a disgusting, grinding, popping, cracking, sound and realized that Wolf had just simultaneously dislocated the man's shoulder and broken all his fingers by squeezing and pulling. "NO child deserves what you did to him, understand, NONE, and I will put you in more pain than he is in now if you don't tell me whether it's a fake, now."

The Australian man grimaced but stayed his tongue from yelling or groaning, instead he said "That is a rather empty statement since Alex is dead now and in no pain."

"Wolf let me handle it." Santiago tried to intervene realizing that a blow up was on the way, but Wolf deliberately ignored him.

"SHUT THE HELL UP AND TELL ME WHETHER THE #$& BOMB IS FAKE OR NOT!" In a moment of sheer rage he nearly ripped the arm captive in his hand from the body of the Australian man, as it is it was now only partially attached to him.

"Wolf! COOL IT! We have eight other bombs to test and only 6 and half minutes to do it we've got to get going. Wolf looked down with disgust at the man now wreathing in pain on the floor; not even Alex had behaved that way and he was a child. He was so angry he had not realized that Santiago gave him the number of fake bombs.

"Yes the wiring of the bomb confirms that it is linked to 20 other bombs, eight of which are identical in nature. They must be the fakes. Now come on and get a hold of your self, you don't want to get suspended for throwing a tantrum." Wolf watched as the man desperately tried to brake the pinky finger of the other hand so he could release the poison into his body, dieing quickly, but upon breaking it he brought more pain upon himself; for with such profound blood loss from the nearly severed limb, the concentration of toxin in the body as a whole dropped to the level were instead of kill, it caused excruciating pain so intense that it is what would drive him crazy after a few minutes of experiencing it. Wolf and Santiago left carrying the bomb to quickly compare it with the others to identify the master one, not waiting to see the end. After two minutes his screams died away and there was silence.

As they ran to the next closest room, Santiago radioed the other operatives to fill them in on his discoveries. When they reached the open door, Wolf let Santiago take initiative while he discreetly leant against the wall; he could feel the fatigue coming down on him now and the incisions on his wrist had opened back up from their temporary close up when he'd gone ballistic on the Australian man. They had 6 minutes 10 seconds to diffuse the right bomb, assuming that Scorpia was telling the truth and Wolf had no intension of wasting it, but he was wondering how much longer he could keep up. His leg was so stiff he would be dragging it in a couple more minutes before he simply couldn't walk any more. He realized as he followed Santiago into the room, that he hadn't even bother to remove the bullet; he hadn't really felt it till now.

"Don't let your guard down." Santiago reminded him but Wolf didn't have the energy to retort like he wanted to. In the next moment he stumbled and fell to one knee slightly hyperventilating. In the same instant a bullet coming from the apparent wall soared over his head and would have been lodged in his brain right now had he not stumbled. "Andros, stay down."

"You thick fools, you forget that I carry a remote now I've released the fakes from master control and they WILL detonate in three minutes. And the fool behind you deserves to die just like he killed Three." It was Santiago's turn to lose his cool; he understood the dangers and trials of being a soldier and having his brother as a soldier too, but this was _his_ little brother that he'd been slightly overprotective of ever since the accident and he wasn't going to let a crackpot coward kill his brother from behind some fake wall.

It appeared that Wolf wasn't capable of doing anything but stay down as his left leg seemed to be non-cooperative, so Santiago stood over him and took aim at the approximate location of the person shooting from behind the now revealed to be holographic wall, and ended up hitting none other than the frontal pelvic area of Levi Kroll. (**You know were I mean**) The dropped to the ground screaming and Santiago left him there to check what bomb it is that they were dealing with. "I guess it's unfortunate for him that you have bad aim." Wolf commented quietly, trying to get up. "I don't." Santiago answered wickedly.

After he did a rigorous but brief test Santiago concluded that this was indeed the original. "Can you diffuse it?" Wolf asked seriously

Santiago didn't answer but concentrated fiercely while Wolf radioed the others and informed them of the new situation, urging them to evacuate the premises, not excluding themselves since all that could be done was to diffuse the bomb and leave as quickly as possible. After 90 seconds of some uncertainty and a cut, the thing was non-operational. 'Let's go!" Santiago shouted and supported Wolf on their way out. After they had gone only a few meters but already 30 seconds Wolf started to say ' You should just leave me and keep going, I'm not gonna be responsible for your-" "Shut up Andros and keep moving." After a few more seconds of no head way, Santiago stopped; "Get on my back." "What? You can't su-" "JUST DO IT!" Wolf climbed on with out further objection. "You feel abnormally lighter than I would expect." He saw his bloody wrists and commented on them as well as they made their way down the hall at a much safer pace. Going up a flight of steps was the hardest part but the made it out. 7 seconds later the whole warehouse looking building flew to pieces, among them noticeable human parts. Little did they know, parts of Mr. Mikato and his diamond were among the rubble.

The hard landing they had sustained had pretty much robbed Wolf of the little strength he had left and so he just lay there, not getting up at all. Santiago called over the lieutenant to let him know that his brother and fellow soldier was badly injured. In a few minutes they were on there way to the same hospital as Alex.

At the hospital, Jack was sitting in a waiting room of a hospital were she couldn't understand a word until they'd found her a bilingual nurse, waiting for Alex to come out of the operating room. According to the nurse, that wouldn't be until about six hours from now. That's how extensive his injuries were, she couldn't even begin to name them. From what the nurse said he really should be dead but the doctors working on him were the best.

Jack just sat there and cried on and off, and wondered were did everything go so wrong. She began to think that perhaps this time Alex's luck had run out. _Where was I when all this happened? Talking to some guy in a musty old art museum? Why? Why? Why is the poor child so troubled? _

_It's those foul people at MI6; they are the ones who caused him to have all these enemies using him like a free tool .No protection, no compensation. A simple vacation and what happens, he could very well be crippled for life if not dead. And I have been powerless to stop it._

Jack drew a shaky breath after these musings and proceeded to find out from the MI6 guards stationed at the doors, if it was possible to locate Wolf. "Wolf was transported here 15 minutes ago ma'am. If you want to see him I will escort you to his room."

So Wolf had not gotten off scotch-free. She felt a sudden contempt for him because he apparently hadn't saved Alex. But she wanted to see him anyway. To see what he had to say. "Yes Thank You."

When they reached his door, the guard knocked and identified himself and purpose for coming. After a couple seconds a weary voice answered; "You may enter."

Inside was a man who resembled Wolf with the same black hair and similar features, but he was taller, with eyes that weren't quite so hard but clearly worried and he was a good deal older; about nine or ten years sitting beside Wolf obviously in the process of giving blood. It struck her that this was his older brother and she felt guilty for having felt satisfaction earlier in knowing that Wolf was injured. He had worried family and a risky job too and she was sure he must have done all he could. Wolf himself appeared to be asleep and the transformation from strong, rather hard man with a weird sense of humor at times, to that pale person lying in that bed was further saddening.

"You must be Jack; I'm Santiago, nice to meet you."

As soon as Wolf who apparently wasn't asleep heard this, he opened his eyes slowly and gazed at Jack for a moment then asked in a tired voice, "Did Alex make it?" she shook her head warily causing the heart monitor by his bed to audible speed up and he tried to sit up, then she continued, "they said he's going to be in surgery for the next 5 and a half hours and so far the doctors say it looks grim. Santiago pushed him back down with his free hand and told him to take it easy. He invited Jack to pull up a chair and they pass the time getting to know each other a little more since this mysterious boy had brought them together. So she spent the next five hours getting to know Wolf and his brother and the details of what had happened since she'd left for the Louvre. Wolf slept on and off during the discussion, but she actually felt marginally better by the time the burly, serious guard came to the door and told her that the doctor would like to speak to her. But then her heart and spirits instantly plummeted for fear of what they might tell her. She looked at Santiago who seemed the most level headed of the three in this situation. He just nodded reassurance and said "What ever the news is we'll be ready and waiting for what ever it is." She nodded resolutely and followed the guard out and up to the OR floor. When she saw the doctor and bilingual nurse _smiling, _she was instantly put at ease. "Congratulations Ms. Starbright, Alex is a very strong boy and it seems he will make a full recovery. Right now the doctors in OR are closing him up and you should be able to see him about 45 minutes. By then we'll have him comfortably sleeping, but he won't wake up for another 2 hours and he'll be in some pain then. But the worst is over."

"You don't know how glad I am to hear that doctor. I've never been so happy in my life. Thank you so much."

She rushed back to Wolf's room to tell them the news.

"He's alright!" she said excitedly as she burst into the room. "He's alright." she sank down into her chair, tired with worry but happy none the less, and told Santiago, since Wolf was still asleep, all that the doctor said. "I knew he'd make it. From what Andros told me about him, the kid's made of steel with a heart of gold. Those kind tend to survive no matter what." She nodded her agreement and slumped down to take a little nap since she'd barely slept since they'd gone missing 36 hours ago.

"How are you feeling Alex?" Jack asked gently. He looked around carefully and took a moment checking all the parts of his body and concluded that since he should be dead, he felt very good, except talking was still hard. "I'm… glad to be …alive." he said tiredly.

"So am I, if it weren't for all your broken ribs I could have hugged you to death right now." "Well then, thank goodness." Alex smiled, though it was a lopsided one because his other cheek was so heavily bandaged. She laughed and looked at him, really looked and took in the face with the oxygen mask on it, which seemed so small and hurt in all those bandages with only his bright, hard eyes really visible. There were so many tubes going in and out of him he looked like an experiment and from what the doctors said he wouldn't be able to walk right a way, but the fact of the matter was that he was alive and would recover. Waiting and helping was what she would now and see to it that it never happened again. "Your right, I can't hug you, but I'll still give you a kiss. You had me too worried for me not to express my happiness at having you alive in some way." so she gave him a tender kiss on the cheek that wasn't to bandaged and smiled when he squirmed. "Wolf is going to be very happy to see you, you know that?"

"He's okay?"

"He's a little busted up and he isn't going anywhere soon, but he's basically okay. And he has some new for you to meet. I think you'll like him. It sure is funny to see Wolf squirm like that when his brother gets all protective of him." she laughed when Alex's eyes widened. It was one of those rare looks that really made him look like a child again. "He has a brother?" "Yep, ten years older than him too, who still calls him his baby bro." she laughed again; the look on Alex's face was golden. "His name's Santiago and" they heard a knock on the door. "It's us."

"Well that must be them now." and she got up to open the door.

**Well guys tell me what you think. Sorry about it being a little late but I hope I made up for it with the quality of the chapter. Do you like Santiago, hate him, please let me know, I worked hard to crank out this chapter and I really need to know how I did. Next chapter should be up next week but I've been busy so expect a delay. However I will not go more than two weeks without updating because I hate it when that happens to me. So see you then!**

**P.S. I'm thinking of making a sequel; any suggestions are welcome. **


	6. Wolf's Past

**Sorry I took rather long with this chapter but I had severe writer's block. But here it is finally and I hope it meets the standards that you guys have come to expect.**

**Enjoy **

**Disclaimer: I really don't feel like repeating myself again so go figure.**

Jack opened the door to admit them. What Alex saw was a tired, pale, but pleased looking Wolf in a wheelchair being pushed by some one who definitely looked like a older version of him but with forest green eyes instead of hazel who was undoubtedly Santiago. "Well if it isn't the great Alex Rider. I for one am glad to see your okay little buddy and I haven't even met you before; you must have that effect on people." Santiago said causing Alex to smiled. Santiago spoke with a strong but passive voice not unlike Wolf's when he wasn't barking at someone. He parked Wolf close to the bed facing Alex and pulled up a chair next to him.

"Nice to meet you too," Alex answered "Santiago right?"

"You got it. How you feeling?"

"Well let's see, I've definitely felt better, but considering that not too long ago death would have felt WAY better, then I'm gonna say, I feel comparatively good." Santiago nodded amusedly. "Wolf on the other hand looked slightly guilty. "Um Alex… about what happened," Alex turned his bandaged face to look at him more directly. "Yeah I've something to say too."

Wolf shook his head "No, I'm older."

"Okay."

"When you started feeling sick, I…I should of called MI6 right away instead of getting you something to eat first , because" Wolf obviously felt as though by carelessness or thoughtlessness, he were somehow responsible for what happened. With his head held down that way, he really looked the picture of guilt. Alex was about to put an end to that, when Jack interjected. "About that poison Alex, the doctors said it was absorbed though the skin."

"The shower water." Wolf and Alex exclaimed in unison. Jack nodded and continued "If the water hadn't suddenly gone boiling on you as Wolf told me it did, then you'd have been out a lot sooner."

"So that's why.' Alex said thoughtfully "Should have guessed. Anyhow Wolf, about what you said." here his voice took on considerable force but, he overall spoke much more slowly than normal "I can't believe you think this is your fault! Who do you think you are superman? You did everything possible to avoid a disaster which you did."

"But I did not avoid a disaster Alex. Do you really think being tortured to within an inch of death isn't a disaster? Simply thinking things through would have prevented that Alex."

"What makes you think that Wolf? You heard Jack; I'd been doped for the taking since we left the building, not to mention followed, it was only a matter of time before I was out cold so they could take me easy, but they wouldn't have hesitated had they realized that we were calling in help. That concierge guy wasn't the only tail we had you know, but the others weren't a threat yet so I left them. But had they noticed you attempting to bring in reinforcements they'd have struck sooner instead." Here he had to slow down and talk more quietly and lie down; the screaming he'd done from the torture had weakened his throat considerably and shouting wasn't helping; besides prolonged sessions of forceful talking really do damage to an already busted jaw and his back was really starting to hurt.

"All I'm trying to say Wolf is that you did the best you could and I'm alive because of that, and I don't think I'm going to miss Dr. Three that much either, so stop beating yourself up, there aren't many people who could do much better." Before Wolf could get to object, Santiago stepped in "You should listen to him Andros, it's true, you did great and I for one am proud of it even if you aren't. You should have seen him Alex; he really cares about you more than he's willing to say to your face." Alex look at Wolf for a second "I know."

"You don't take off peoples limbs bare handedly while you've got a bullet in your leg, bleeding wrists and a broken arm if you don't care about the person you're doing it for, do you Andros?" Alex looked at Wolf with something close to awe. "Explain." he said after a moment. "Well, basically killed the Australian man."

"By tearing off his right shoulder." Santiago put in. Alex stared at a defiant Wolf. "And he deserved nothing less; you don't stand there and tell me that a kid deserves to be hacked to death or else you suffer big time. Besides he really killed himself with that pinky finger thing."

"Andros is really a formidable person if he happens to lose his temper; you don't want to be on the wrong end of it." Alex nodded

"And then Tiago killed the one-eyed man"

"You mean Levi Kroll?"

"Yep. Shot him right in the balls deliberately." Wolf grinned at his big brother mischievously.

"Well you don't expect me to have some one messing with my baby brother and all they get is a scolding do yuh?"

"I'm NOT your BABY brother man! I'm almost thirty years old for goodness sake can't it just be younger brother." Santiago simply shook his head.

"What about the black, Japanese looking man?" Alex asked eagerly.

Wolf shrugged "I don't know if he was in the building too, but come to think of it I did see some unknown body parts flying when the whole place blew so maybe."

Jack shuddered in her seat at the thought.

"So you see Wolf, you did even better than I thought. You got some nerve saying this is your fault. I don't ever want to hear you say that again; don't you see that you're a hero today? That's usually my role but I don't mind handing it over to you for a day." Wolf smiled but shook his head. "You wouldn't understand unless you knew what happened back when I was a child, then you'd see why I have to be so hard on myself." The brothers' faces took on a hard look following that statement; obviously it was not a nice story.

"What do you mean?" Alex asked quietly

Wolf sighed and began the narrative of a long sad story.

"I use to have another brother." he smiled sadly "Little Rai was about your age maybe a little older when he died." Alex noticed that Wolf refused to lift his and instead seemed fascinated in his hand, Alex had the distinct notion that he was crying and it shocked him. However Wolf's voice remained steady and clear. "But because of my carelessness, he died he was my best bud but I killed him."

"See now, this is where I have to take over. How many times do I have to tell you bro; it wasn't your fault. There was nothing you could have done." Alex was surprised by the force in Santiago's voice, he actually sounded angry. Wolf shook his still bowed head. "You just don't understand."

"NO! _You_ don't understand. Look Alex; don't listen to him, that's what our parents ground into his head, what they wanted him to believe and its bullshit. This is what happened; back when I was still in university and Wolf and Rai were just teenagers; just 16 and 15 respectively, I'd come home for a week visit. I'd just come in that Saturday and right after greetings and stuff, Andros and Rai told me they were off to go hunting up at Bull Hole, as they used to call the forest higher up on the hill. I offered to carry them but Mom parents said no, rest from the flight over. She said that Mikey, a sort of friend of ours, was carrying them anyway. I should have insisted, since I knew that Mikey wasn't what you could call a reliable fellow, he was often drunk, but dad said he would check him personally before they left so I didn't.

Should have known better, he didn't even go see them off, just let them go out the door with a death trap." Wolf took over from Santiago and continued the narrative.

"On our way there, I noticed something wrong. The guy was just too bubbly to be sober but I didn't ask or make him pull over and we get although we could still have walked home. Nope all I said was slow down, but he didn't.

Now, we lived high up on this cliff with the forest behind us and there were a lot of those narrow, winding roads thousands of feet up that are deadly if you don't take them slowly which is exactly what Mikey didn't do. I remember Rai asking me if he didn't seem a little off his rocker and I tried to force him to slow down, but he didn't listen instead he turned around to sneer at me and went straight off the road.

_He_ wasn't wearing a seat belt so he went straight out the window first thing. Then the car with us bumbling in it got caught by its rear axle on a outcrop of the cliff face and stopped, but if we didn't get out fast it would fall the rest of the way with us. We unbuckled and I made Rai grab me around the waist, then I climbed out the rear windshield. I'd just grabbed on to the ledge as the thing fell and I had Rai climb over me and get up there first. But apparently it wasn't stable because before I could start to pull myself up, the spot were he was kneeling just crumbled and fell away from underneath him. I just managed to catch his hand before he fell past me, but it was no use." Wolf lifted his head and Alex could just make out one tear of utter frustration at the way how he had not prevent the death of his brother on his cheek. "From the way I'd caught him there wasn't much to hold on to but I did my best. We hung for about 15 minutes like that waiting for someone to come but I doubted it. No one could have known that we were hanging off a crumbling ledge waiting to fall to our deaths."

"But I did." Santiago spoke now. "I'd been lying down on my bed thinking, trying to shake this feeling of doomed that had settled on me the moment they went through the door. But it only got stronger as the time past, until I couldn't ignore it anymore, so I jumped up, grabbed my keys and left. A few minutes later I was at the sight of the crash feeling worse as the moments passed and when I looked over the edge I saw them my heart stopped for a good few seconds. I quick time got some chain out of my SUV that I used to tow friends' cars and laid down over the edge to pull them up."

"But it wasn't to be" Wolf continued "when I tried to lift Rai above me to reach the chain he started to grip my hand more tightly but instead he slipped from my grasp and fell. Fell the hundred and ninety-eight to the bottom."

"And after a second so did you. You know Andros, to this day I still don't know whether you fell or you let go."

"I let go." Wolf answered honestly

Santiago shook his head sadly and looked his brother in the eye for a few moments, then he continued "when we finally got to them at the bottom, Rai was dead, totally broken, there was no hope whatsoever for him, and Andros; he was so broken I was sure he would never walk again, with a broken back, badly fractured skull and just about every other bone in his body broken too. But he was still alive; unlike Little Rai, he had survived the fall. I don't know what I would have done if both of them had gone, but in the following months I felt like I _had_ lost him too. The doctors did everything they could but despite it all he slipped into a deep coma for two months. To make matters worse our parents took Rai's death hard. Really hard, and they took it out on Andros.

Raimundo had been their favorite son and Andros the unloved one. Yeah, they made sure he had everything he needed and all but for no apparent reason they never liked him. Any extra affection going around or gifts time, birthdays; he'd be left out or giving some cheap little thing on account of him forgetting to do something or some other trivial offense. While Rai and I could get away with virtually anything, but what ever it was that we got we'd share it with him, especially Rai he was such a sweet kid." His face suddenly got stony and when he spoke his voice was angry "But when he survived and Rai didn't, they took it too far. They hardly came around when he was in coma and by the end of two months when he still proved unresponsive; they were ready to pull the plug. One day I was sitting there talking to you Andros like I always did; telling you all sorts of stories, when they just came in there with the doctors ready to do it. No consulting the big brother my opinion didn't matter I suppose or rather they already knew were I stood on the matter so they just ignored it, but I made them see other wise.

**Flashback**

"_Santiago it's been long enough, we can't keep him any longer. The doctors say it is unlikely that he will ever wake so we must move on." "Listen to your self you selfish old hag, why? Why is it too late? Two months is two long to wait for the child to wake up? Why don't you just say it to my face; you hate him. You can't stand the fact that he lived while Raimundo died. You'd love to just let him go to satisfy your own wicked selfishness. Well let me tell you something; You may hate him and want to see him permanently snuffed out of you life just like poor Rai, but __**he**__ would not have wanted to see his big brother deprived of a chance at life by his PARENTS! And neither do I. He's MY BROTHER, you hear me? My BROTHER! And gonna stand by him like a brother should and you're not coming anywhere near him. You understand? And when he wakes up he'll know that you wanted to kill him. Just kill him, like the murderous beast you are. Get out; just get OUT before I lose my self control."_

**End of Flashback**

"The next day he woke up. The doctors said it was nothing short of a miracle and I know I cried like a little girl that day but I had him back; Rai was gone for ever, but Andros would live on I had a reason to live. It took him two years to heal. He had to relearn how to walk and dress and feed himself and everything else for that matter. But he was young and fit so he made it and despite everything they did, he went back home to stay with mom and dad until twenty-one to help them out and finish his education. But they just couldn't live with fact that he was there, alive and doing well. So they let him know it. They wouldn't stop pounding it into his head that it was his fault that Rai had to die that day. That if he'd been a lot more responsible, a lot more assertive and a much more self-less person, and let me assure that he is all of those things and more, then Rai wouldn't have die. And now he still believes it." He glanced at Wolf but his brother didn't interrupt. "Then one day I got a message on my answering machine. I still remember the whole thing word for word." His voice took on a theatrical quality as he articulated the message from years back.

"_Hey Tiago, it's me. I was just calling to say I'm gone. I'm taking off to see what I can do with myself in the world. I know it was my irresponsibility that got Raimundo killed and I'm trying to atone for it, but Mom and Dad don't want to see or hear any of that. Today Dad lit in on me with the baseball bat because 'I am boasting the same selfish traits that got Rai killed.' I'm not trying to shunt the blame away from myself, but I __**know**__ that I am not half the monster they make me out to be. So since they've made it clear they don't want me around, then I'll be on my way. See you around big bro." _

As Santiago finished, Wolf smiled "You make a good imitation of an eighteen year old me." he said

Santiago laughed. "Well what do you expect, we are related you know."

"That's when thing got good." Wolf took over "Apparently Santiago heard my message sooner than I thought, cause he called me on my cell and begged me to wait for him to come get me which would be a few hours at best. But I did and when he got there, in the night, he suggested I come with him and join the military and he'd look out for me until I could get going on my own two feet. From then on, in all honesty life's been good; I always had this tendency to jump at the chance to do anything challenging including joining the SAS and I've just completed my 12 month probation. To tell you the truth this capture is something of a humiliation compared to what I've been trained for but I'll live it down." he paused to pull run his hand through his hair and then continued. "The fact of the matter is; you reminder of my little brother and I have no intention of being responsible for the death of another young child with a promising future again," he gave Santiago a look that warned him not to interrupt "understand? And the next thing is; you remind me of Raimundo a lot. Sure you can be an annoying little brat when you want to be, but despite my earlier inclinations, I've come to like having you around. So when that #$ half-beast attacked you, it wasn't the instinct of a trained bodyguard that took over, but more that of a brother, understand what I'm saying?" Alex nodded with a genuinely pleased smile on his face. He had earned Wolf's respect; and he was one of the few people Alex admired and respected.

"Thanks Wolf, that means a lot. Cause you see as of earlier this week, there were four people in the world who are alive that actually cared about me as a person, meaning my wellbeing not usefulness, but now I could say that there's five; You, Santiago, Jack, Sabina, Tom and Jerry."

"Tom and Jerry?"

"Tom's a friend from school and his big brother's name is Jerry, they often fuss about how screwed up their parents had to be to call them that." He was about to shrug but remembered his shoulders which strangely he still couldn't feel or move.

Santiago nodded in agreement. "I thought something was really wrong with you there saying that Tom and Jerry care about your wellbeing."

Alex would have laughed if it weren't for his aching chest. He smiled instead but it was broken by a face splitting yawn that left him wincing in pain from how wide his mouth opened.

Jack took over seeing how tired he must be and started to shoo them out of the room. "Okay you guys we've kept the poor child awake long enough." This was proved true when Alex was noted to be valiantly fighting exhaustion to say something else before he fell into dreamland. "What is it Alex?" Jack had to go up to his mouth to hear him since he could barely keep up a whisper.

"Wolf, he wants you."

Santiago pushed him back over to the bed and he leaned closer to hear; "When we're better, and you're not busy, do you… do you think we could get together sometime for … some sports or something?" His eyes were closed so Wolf couldn't read them but he could hear the eagerness in his voice. "I don't see why not, but how come you _had _to ask _now_?"

"Better to dream about than MI6 and missions."

Wolf smiled and ruffled Alex hair with his good hand. " I see, Well I think I might actually like that idea. Get some rest and we'll see."

Jack ushered them out of the room while Alex finally fell off to sleep with a rare smile on his face.

**Well people what do you think? If any body seemed out of character it's because it was a sentimental moment and people usually aren't themselves during those times unless they are sentimental. The next chapter will probably be the last but I'm still open for ideas for a sequel. **

**And please do tell me any thing you did or didn't like so I can improve or give myself a pat on the back. I mean that's what reviews are for right? **


	7. The Shit Meets The Fan

**Sorry about the late update people. I really didn't meant to take so long but I was busy and I had writer's block. But here it is except this is not the last chapter. At first it was all one super long chapter, nearly 7000 words, but I'm not going to finish it tonight and I really don't want you guys to have to wait. So the real last chapter when Wolf and Alex spend some quality time together should be up by Monday or Tuesday evening.**

**Enjoy!**

By the end of the week, the Italian doctors had deemed Wolf well enough to be released and at his earliest convenience, he was to see his doctor in England to discuss a plan to facilitate a full recovery. Alex on the other hand was still too unstable to be transported just yet. Wolf decided to go see him before he left for London while he waited for Santiago to return from where ever it was he'd went.

As he was making his way up the corridor on his crutches, he heard a good deal of shouting coming from Alex's room.

"Be civil? BE CIVIL!? Why would I want to be civil Mrs. Jones? My whole damn life is orchestrated by a heartless maniac and his sidekick, and you want me to speak civilly. It's all a freaking game to you isn't it." Alex was shouting. His words were slightly garbled because of his immobilized jaw but he kept on going anyway. "It's always 'If we use him this way, we'll get more done. If he dies we get someone else.' That's exactly what it is to you."

Wolf reached the door of Alex's room and looked inside the now open door just as the nurse was sternly telling Mrs. Jones to leave because she was endangering the life of their patient. Alex was wheezing heavily but the doctor was finding it hard to calm him down so he could pull an oxygen mask over his face when he knew so little English and the boy was still so angry.

When Wolf tried to enter the room the nurse said, "I'm sorry sir but you're going to have to come back when we have him under control. She started shooing him out of the room but Alex started yelling again; "There's no need for him to go anywhere, it's not him I'm mad at." He had to stop though when he was over come by a fit of painful hacking coughs that racked his whole body and left him drained when they passed. He lay still and finally stopped resisting the doctor who quickly slipped the mask over his face and checked over the various machines attached to him again, then he said some things to the nurse in rapid Italian.

She translated for Wolf "He insist on you being here so we won't argue but see to it that he does not remove that mask and that you keep his talking to none. If he has another fit like that, he could kill himself. Do you understand?" Wolf nodded while he worriedly looked at the tired, broken child lying there with half-lidded eyes.

After the two left, Wolf sat down at the edge of Alex's bed and looked at him for a moment.

Alex tiredly opened his eyes slightly and smiled sadly. "Not going to live am I?" he said sleepily

"Shhh, the doctors say you won't if you throw another tantrum like that but if you cooperate you will."

The only sound in the room for a few moments was the soft sound of Alex's wheezing subsiding. "I was shouting because I found out something." He wanted to tell Wolf about it but he knew he wasn't to talk so he was trying to get Wolf to ask about it.

"You're not going to catch me helping you hurt yourself."

"Blunt used us."

Silence

"You too."

Alex decided that Wolf's silence was an encouragement so he continued.

"Alan Blunt rigged the contest so that Jack would win because he wanted us to go to France. He knew Scorpia was doing something up here so he sent me like the naïve fool I am, to act as bait to draw them out. If I died in the process, it would have been an annoying but anticipated consequence. No pain, no gain right?" He coughed for a few seconds but forced it away and continued despite Wolf's warnings to rest.

"No I need to get this out even if you're not listening."

"I am listening Alex but you're agitating yourself to much."

Alex ignored him and went on.

"And then Mrs. Jones has the nerve to talk of a medal, for what? It's just not fair, why do I have to be abused so much? Don't I have rights too? Is it impossible for them to treat me like a normal operative?" As the previously suppressed cough claimed his voice again, Wolf tried to find something to say to ease his frustration. But, the coughs deepened and Wolf realized that Alex had bigger problems just now. While the coughs mercilessly racking his body, Alex tore the oxygen mask away from his face despite the great pain it caused his shoulder because the fact of the matter was he couldn't breath and as the coughing continued he grew desperate for a breath of air. Wolf slammed his hand down on the button used to summon a nurse and then watched in horror as Alex began to go blue in the face from lack of oxygen.

As it was becoming clear that no one was coming, Wolf took the initiative. He placed one arm firmly around Alex's bandaged back and then, reluctantly struck his chest at the point where his windpipe divides into the two bronchi, with painful but necessary force. The coughing subsided and he was suddenly able to breathe again, which he did in great earnest. However, the well-meant yet still cruel blow to his chest aggravated his wounds horridly and tears of pain and frustration stung his eyes.

He tried to turn away so Wolf wouldn't see them and think him pathetic or childish, but Wolf held his arm and pulled him into a brief but fatherly hug.

"It's okay Alex. Just let it go. Crying doesn't make a man weak, but it makes you human. Don't keep up the stress." he said as he gave him a reassuring pat on the back and released him.

Alex looked at Wolf for a moment and then he smiled, "Thanks Andros."

Wolf nodded, glad to see him better as he began to fall off to sleep. A few minutes later, the door slowly opened and Jack and Santiago walked in.

When she saw the tear streaks on Alex's face and the hard look on Wolf's own, she panicked.

"What happened?! Is he alright?" she looked at Wolf accusingly "What happened?" she demanded.

"Will you cool it Jack? I didn't do anything to him if that's what you think. He found out some things and they upset him."

Jack set the bags she'd brought with some stuff for Alex, down in the corner and looked at him with narrowed eyes. "What things?"

"That MI6 essentially used both of you to get him on this mission."

"What?!"

"What do you mean?" Santiago asked from his spot in the other chair.

"What I mean is that they knew Jack would have persuaded him to go on a vacation if she won the sweepstakes, so they made sure she did."

"But why would they want us to go?"

"So they could use Alex as bait to lure Scorpia into a trap with a chance at revenge. Then Alex would signal them and MI6 would take over yet Scorpia almost succeeded didn't they? I'm assuming that they expected him to die but he proved them wrong again."

Jack was in dismay. She sat stroking Alex's hand, tears filling her eyes.

"So if I'd just listened to him when he'd said it could be a trap, then he would have been okay right now?" she asked sadly

"I'm not saying this is your fault Jack. MI6 could have full well found a different way to get to him. I'm just saying, they are using every connection Alex has to the outside world to exploit his talents and we need to put a stop to it." the other two nodded and silence fell over the room until Santiago broke it.

"Aww, shit, C'mon bro we've got a plane to catch in a little over an hour." He walked over to Alex and ruffled his hair. "Take care of him Jack; no child deserves to be treated like that."

"I will." She said

"C'mon Andros."

Wolf looked at Alex once more before he turned to Jack; "When he wakes up, tell him I'll see him soon."

Jack nodded barely noticing as they left, as she was lost in thought about what to do.

* * *

On the plane back to London, Santiago noticed that Wolf was rather withdrawn. He seemed to be lost in thought and he wondered if it had to do with Alex.

"You okay Andros?"

"Yeah, I'm just thinking."

"It's about Alex isn't it?"

"Not so much about Alex in specific but what they _did_ to him actually."

"I know, it's monstrous."

"It's worse than that. He's recovering from a bullet wound to the chest he got last month doing more of this crap and they disregarded that completely. That's why he was to go on this so called vacation in the first place, but it was all a trick. A plan to use him to the fullest."

Santiago was speechless for a moment, but only a moment.

"So how come this is happening to him in specific?"

"Well apparently this line of work runs in the family, but the family is gone now, so he's basically on his own. They bribe him with deporting Jack and sending him to an unpleasant boarding school if he resist, so he doesn't have much of a choice."

Santiago laughed harshly "This is outrageous." a thought suddenly struck him and he asked seriously. "You don't think he's making it up do you."

"No. I've considered that but I saw and heard the evidence for myself."

"We need to put a stop to this then."

"Yes, which is why as soon as we get back into London I'm going to have a talk with them."

"As soon as you rest off a bit, yes." Santiago partially agreed

For the duration of the conversation they'd been talking in low voices to avoid other passengers hearing, but now Wolf spoke clearly when he said; "No Santiago, on our way back from the airport, I'm going to stop and have a unpleasant talk with them." he waited for Santiago to try and dissuade him again but he didn't.

"You're right, as long as we do land in the afternoon as planned, we'll talk right away." he said.

Wolf nodded approvingly and they went back to their respective activities.

Four hours later Wolf was sitting in Mr. Blunt's office, Jones and Blunt before him, but Santiago had been detained for another team needed elsewhere. So the brothers were parting again for the meantime.

"Well I'm glad to see you're alright Mr. Mendoza and congratulations on a job well done. Is Alex alright?" Mr. Jones said by way of a greeting.

"No he's not." Wolf answered coldly ignoring her congratulatory remarks.

"I hope you haven't come here to blame us for what happened to him." Blunt interjected noticing his expression and tone.

"That's exactly what I'm doing."

"We hardly did anything. Alex wasn't forced in anyway. Ms. Starbright didn't have to go and enter that sweepstakes in the first place neither did Alex have to go. Second, we did not lie when we said Scorpia wasn't in the area nor was the contest rigged by them. We actually sent you to protect him as a precaution. If you couldn't do that then don't blame us for your short comings." Blunt heartlessly explained.

If it weren't for the cast on his right arm, Wolf would have grabbed Alan Blunt by the front of his gray jacket and hauled him across his big expensive desk. As it was he still stood up abruptly and raised his voice.

"I am not going to stand hear and have you tell me that Alex brought this on himself or because you sure as Hell didn't give him free choice in this whole damn mess."

"Andros calm down please." Mrs. Jones entreated him and suddenly he remembered Alex yelling back when she had asked him to be civil, and he knew exactly how he'd felt.

He completely ignored her and continued.

"Let me ask you, did you or did you not use Alex to get the job done?"

"To see an opportunity and willingly let it pass is foolish and there is no place for foolishness in what I do."

"So tell me, if Alex had used his free choice as you say. Would the mission have gone so well?"

No answer

"You relied heavily on him yet you say he had free choice. What if he'd used it? That seems pretty foolish to me."

What's your point?" Blunt asked testily

"If you're going to have him work for you, then do it the right way. He's a child, he has to go school, consider that. Moreover, I don't think it would kill you to pay him for what he does either. Neither is it any harder to give him the down time he needs after he's been hurt on one of his missions."

"There is hardly any need to pay him, what would a fourteen year-old boy do with that much money? Spend it on cell phones and video games?" Mr. Blunt asked in a disgusted tone.

"He doesn't have time for that," Wolf answered in an equally disgusted voice "plus it would serve as a better means of recruiting him than bribing him with the deportation of his guardian."

Ignoring that Blunt continued "Besides if the need arises we have to use him again. I don't like admitting it but he is becoming our most effective operative. If we need him were going to use him." He said in a dismissing tone.

"When the wrong people know something, it can cause a lot of problems for others right Mr. Blunt?" Wolf asked deviously.

A look of contempt shadowed Blunts's face as he realized exactly what Wolf intended to do if his demands were not carried out.

"Do mean to blackmailing us into doing what you say Wolf?" Mrs. Jones asked disapprovingly

"Maybe." He answered sitting back in his seat

After a long pause

"Your request will be considered Mr. Mendoza." Mrs. Jones informed tersely him "You may leave now."

"Have a nice day." he said sarcastically as he left. He knew they would do as he said for fear of him speaking unless they planned to kill him and he wasn't exactly disposable yet.

* * *

"Here you go Alex, home sweet home." Jack said as she helped him into the sofa in the sitting room a week later and gave him the remote so he could watch television if he liked. But he said "Thanks Jack, but I don't really feel for any television right now. I'd rather just think."

"That's fine Alex. What ever you like, just relax and let me take care of you."

Alex shifted careful not to agitate his shoulders that were still VERY sore, and smiled "You don't have to feel guilty Jack. We were used and there isn't really anything any of us could do about it. You don't have to try to make up for it. You're great as you are."

"I know I couldn't have stopped it Alex but I still feel badly and would like to make it up if you don't mind, so tell me what would you like to eat?"

"Well, if you put it that way Jack, knock your self out. For some reason I feel for cake right now."

"Cake it is." She headed towards the kitchen to start. "Oh and Tom called, he wanted to know if he could come see you this evening."

"Sure, I'd like to see someone from the normal world for a change."

Later on, Jack and Alex sat eating chocolate cake that wasn't bad for a first time when the bell rang. Jack got up to open it and a moment later came back with Tom in tow.

"Well I'll leave you boys to your talk for now." She said as she cleared away the dishes.

"So I see you got busted again, latest mission?" Tom asked as he sat down at the other end of the sofa careful not to sit on Alex's foot. "I've never seen you this hurt before though, must have been really bad."

"Yeah, but I hardly did anything at all, if it weren't for Wolf I would have been dead now."

"You mean that guy from the SAS who hated you?"

"Yeah, but he doesn't hate me anymore, I don't think. Cause he said when he got some time off, we could maybe hang out."

"Cool. But does SAS get time off? I mean they're busy protecting the country and all?"

"Of course they get time off. When they shift the people around, some come on duty and some come off." Alex informed him mildly condescendingly.

"Oh yes right." After a brief pause he asked "So if you hardly did anything, how come you're so busted up?"

Alex grew serious at the mention of his injuries.

"I got tortured." He said grimly

Tom was incredulous. "You got tortured? By who?"

"The same people, Scorpia, who I was with in Venice.

"Wow, so do you mind talking about it or are you okay now?"

"I guess its better that I talk about it right?"

"I suppose. So what happened to your face, it looks like you ran into a butchery with your eyes closed and it sounds like your jaw is busted. "

"It is, Scorpia got one of their men called Dr. Three- he's an expert on pain and torture- to kill me. Since they were all pissed that I stopped there last plan, they had him bring in his torture equipment to take me out painfully. He said I would fight for the kind of death I would have; either have him torture me to death or have this other guy kill me in another God forsaken way."

"Gee-whiz Alex, are you sure you don't mind talking about it?"

"If I don't then I'm going to keep having nightmares about it for a long time, its best I get it over with."

"Alright go ahead."

"Anyhow the first thing he got was this mechanical spider thing with razor blades for legs. It got me in the face and I had to tear it off to get free. Jack said I had to get massive plastic surgery to fix it."

"What else could you have endured?" Tom asked in awe.

"Now that I think about it, I don't see how come I'm not dead, but after the spider thing was off, he threw this coil of some kind of spring loaded wire at me. It didn't hit me but when it hit the ground it sort of flew open so it slashed me up on my right thigh real bad. The doctors say if I ever want to be able to use it fully again I have to stay off of it for a week and then have intense PT to strengthen it and that still that wasn't the most painful thing."

"You're giving _me_ nightmares and I wasn't even there. Then, through all this, where was the SAS guy?"

"His code name is Wolf and-"

"Do you know what his real name is?"

"Yeah but I'm not telling you."

"Oh alright, so where was he?"

"Well, first when we got captured he was shot in the leg and then they must have given him something to knock him out cause when I came around he was out, but either way he was tied up in the corner of the room with some of the same wire that Dr. Three cut me with."

"I bet you thought you were done for."

"Yeah. After that he kicked me in my chest right on the bullet wound from last time. Now that really hurt but it still wasn't the worst. I only got to hit him once after that when I tripped him so he broke his nose on the floor."

"Good!" Tom exclaimed

"But then he broke my jaw with a round house kick. By now Wolf was trying to get free despite the detriment to his wrist but it wasn't working. I realized that I should at least let him know that MI6 was on the way because I'd signaled them back we had been captured."

"Using one of your gadgets?"

"You could say that. Now the thing is I couldn't full well let the bad guys hear that back was on the way so, I had to get to Wolf to say it and Dr. Three wouldn't have that. Just so I couldn't get there, he cut up my back with some kind of super sharp knife and then he yanked my left shoulder out of socket. But since I kept on going-"

"You kept on going?" Tom's mouth was actually hanging open

"I had to. Since I kept going he had the guard stationed right behind Wolf, try to move him away so I wouldn't get any closer, but Wolf took advantage of it and knock the guy clean across the room in to a wall."

"Dr. Three?" Tom asked hopefully

"No not him yet, the guard. But with the guard out the way he got mad. I couldn't really hear much any more 'cause all the pain was clouding my mind but I know Wolf did something that got him really mad cause he said something to him and then he _slowly_ pulled my other shoulder out of socket."

"That's what hurt the most wasn't it?" Tom asked sympathetically

"Yeah I passed out then only to be awakened again by an injection."

Unbeknownst to the boys, Jack had been standing there for a while listening to what she knew Alex would never willingly tell her and the tears just came. She would never have imagined that he had been through so much; it was unthinkable. But she had learned her lesson thoroughly; never trust MI6 again.

"Then what happened? Did you get to tell Wolf about the back up?" Tom asked earnestly but Alex wasn't listening.

"I think he was actually crying." He mumbled thoughtfully "I know I felt tears and they weren't mine." A kind of frightened pained looked came over his face as relived the moment when he had lost all hope. It was a moment that would haunt him for some time.

"You okay Alex?"

A second later Alex seemed to remember where he was and his face cleared. "Did you say something mate?"

"I was wondering if you were okay. You kind of zoned out."

"I was thinking about something." he said vaguely

"Well did you ever get to give Wolf the message?"

"Yeah, I think Three must have left for something and then I told him and helped get his hands free, but I don't remember anything after that till I woke up in the hospital." It was clear that he didn't want to talk about it anymore so Tom let up.

"Wow, you really are something Alex I bet no one over at MI6 could ever say they endured anything like that. You should consider yourself a hero. Jack told me that there were a bunch of bombs that were to go off at some embassies but you and Wolf stopped it. That's a pretty impressive record."

"Thanks Tom, it's the reason why I told you about everything and no one else really; you always seem to understand."

They sat in comfortable silence for a few minutes until the phone rang and Alex yawned. "It's late I better get going."

"How are things with your parents?"

"As bad as ever. I usually sneak in through the back door and then they never notice I was gone. Only if I get back so late that they lock up for the night does it become a problem."

Alex nodded understandingly.

"Alex, it's for you." Jack said as she came over to hand him the portable phone.

"I'll see you around Tom."

"Yeah, see yuh."

Jack had a funny smile on her face when she gave him the phone like it was a joke but he took it anyway.

"Hello?"

"How's it going Cub?" a familiar voice answered.

"Wolf!"

"The one and only."

"I didn't expect you to call."

"Surprises generally work that way." Wolf laughed "So how are you?"

"I'm basically okay. Bored but okay. How are you, working again?"

"I'm fine, and no I'm not actually on active duty but I do have some work to do."

"Sounds like more fun that what I'm doing. Resting."

"Take it easy Alex, you need that rest."

"I know."

"Look I don't have long to stay on the phone but I just wanted to tell you; I spoke to your employers and you should expect to see a check in the mail in a couple days and a definite change in attitude from them."

"Really? You're the best, I never thought there was anyone who could stand up to them and get anything done. Are you sure they mean what they say?"

"Believe me I'm sure." Wolf laughed. Alex's earlier comment was not lost on him either. It was a kind of exalting feeling when you could make a child happy and get his gratitude in return.

"Thanks a bunch, I wonder how much I made over the past few months."

"A lot, just don't waste it okay? You want some left to do important things you know. Any way I'll see around, probably when you're well enough to travel. Take care of yourself. Bye."

"You to." Alex hung up the phone feeling different. He felt good and he had some things to look forward to. Life wasn't all bad.

* * *

**There it is. Did you like it, did you not? Talk to me people. And while you're at it those of you have read my other story, I need to know what did I do wrong.**

**Why is it that chapter one got 25 reviews in a few days yet the next chapter has been up for over a week with only 4? Is it really that bad? I really need to know because I don't want to repeat any mistakes. L**

**Anyway, Good night, or day or afternoon if that's what it is where you are. **


	8. Chapter 8

Ding

**Finally, FINALLY I'm finish. I'm sorry for keeping you loyal readers waiting for so long for no real reason. I was just so caught up in my other story that I deliberately skirted this one, but I've seen the error of my ways and made amends. **

**Thanks to every one who's been reading this so far and a special thanks to everyone who's reviewed. Enjoy this last chapter. **

**Disclaimer: It's not mine.**

Ding, dong

"I'll get it Jack." Alex shouted as he limped over to the door to answer it. When he looked through the peephole and saw that it was Wolf, he opened it immediately.

"Hey Wolf, you came early, come on in."

"Thanks, how are you feeling?"

"Pretty good, I'm only limping right now because I just came back from PT, which was pretty rough today."

He led Wolf into the sitting room while they talked. "I know what you mean;" Wolf agreed "I still have PT for this leg but its but its not so bad now."

"So do you have any grub?" Wolf asked "I never seem to have anything up at my house."

"Sure help yourself." Alex led Wolf into the kitchen where Jack was warming a piece of chicken in the microwave.

"Hi Jack." 

"Hi Andros, how've you been?" she greeted him while hurrying to get some bread off the fridge top to have with the chicken.

"Not bad. You seem to be in a rush." he commented as he took down the bread for her.

"Thanks, just because Alex is getting so tall he's always putting the bread up there. I'm rushing because I'm about to be late for my afternoon class up at the University, but I have to get something to eat before I leave, I'm okay now though."

She gathered up her handbag and kissed Alex on the cheek. "Enjoy yourself Alex."

"Thanks Jack, now hurry before you're late."

The next second she was out the door.

"Busy huh?" Wolf commented while he rummaged through the refrigerator.

"Yeah I'm glad she's not so worried about me anymore and can take care of herself. So where are we going?" Alex was bursting with curiosity to know what Wolf had planned for there trip. It had been a while since his last outing with his uncle and he kind of missed them.

"Impatient are we?" Wolf provoked as he made himself a roast beef and cheese sandwich.

"Come on." Alex mock pleaded.

"You'll see in a little while." He sat down with the sandwich across from Alex. "What have you done with your money so far?"

"I put most of it in a savings account and I left out a little over a thousand to do stuff."

"Wise kid."

In a few more bites Wolf was finished the sandwich and ready to go.

"You sure you don't want another one?" Alex asked skeptically

"Nah, we've got places to go."

Four hours, later they were still driving.

Wolf glanced over at Alex as they left Milton Campsie in the far north and started up a long, winding, steep road.

"You aren't about to asked 'are we there yet' are you?"

"No," Alex answered pleasantly, looking out the window "I've been memorizing the whole way so I could drive back if I had a license."

Wolf look at him for a second with something close to admiration "Everything is a puzzle or challenge to you, isn't it?"

"It makes things more interesting." Alex answered "But now that you've given me the idea, are we there yet?"

"About 15 minutes more. If you haven't already guessed this is my old home. I thought we do a bit of real camping up here, not the stuff Scout Troops do."

"I figured as much after a while." Alex answered "Do you're parents still live up here?"

Wolf took a moment to answer because he was concentrating on maneuvering the winding roads "My mum does but dad passed away a few years back."

"Oh, sorry." Alex was thoughtful for a moment "I wonder what's worse; not having parents or having crap ones."

"Depends on the parents, but crap ones or not I've got to visit mine from time to time to make sure she's okay."

"You must spend the day if it takes this long to get there."

"Not necessarily, often the drive is more pleasant."

"Oh."

"Here we are, Bull's Hole." Wolf smiled, heading around to the back of the truck to get out the tent and supplies.

Alex got out of the vehicle and walked around, taking in the scenery; the medium sized clearing covered with saw grass and clover and the surrounding trees forming an almost complete circle. The air smelled of pine and grass and the effect was satisfyingly relaxing.

"Stop goggling and give me a hand with this stuff." Wolf quipped

After they got an area clear, Wolf sent Alex for some firewood while he set up the tent. "It'll soon be dark and when it gets dark up here it gets cold, so make sure you bring a lot. Over there is a good place to start."

Alex set off in the general direction of east, whistling.

After a while, he had gathered a nice arm load but as he was coming back towards the clearing he heard a twig snap behind him. He dropped the wood and whirled around in a karate stance, slightly stretching the month old wound on his back. "Who's there?"

A figure stepped out of the brush "Easy, I didn't mean to startle you I was looking for something." A boy of about 15 or 16 answered.

He had unruly black hair and bright slate blue eyes that seemed to twinkle with a secret only he knew. He smiled in a sort of lopsided way and said "I used to live up here some years back but now I just come and visit from time to time when I'm able to. I've been looking for something I lost when I left"

He seemed to be hiding something as he spoke because he kept his right foot planted firmly on the ground beside strange looking patch of ground.

"Oh, well sorry to turn on you like that, sometimes I get a little jumpy." Alex offered his hand "Alex."

"Nice to meet you Alex." the boy shook his hand but did not offer his name, "I see you were gathering some firewood there. I know where some of the best wood is, mind if I help?"

"Not at all." The two boys spent the better part of an hour searching for wood and talking till ,Wolf, back at camp, was beginning to worry about what was keeping him. He decided to go look for him in case he'd ran into trouble.

Alex and his new friend were on their way back to the spot were Alex had dropped his first bundle as they had used it as a drop off point and there was quite a pile now, when they heard Wolf calling. "Alex!"

"Aw man, it's been a while hasn't it?" Alex said but the other boy was suddenly tense. "I think I'll be going now. Bye Alex, nice meeting you."

"Wait, where are you going?" Alex called to the retreating figure. "Wolf, I'm over here." he answered the second call. A moment later Wolf entered the area where Alex was when he met the mysterious boy.

"WHERE THE HELL HAVE YOU BEEN?" Wolf shouted

Alex stared; he hadn't been gone that long had he?

Wolf realized that he was overreacting and cooled down some but he was still angry.

"There are bears in these parts you know. I thought you were- look I'm responsible for your safety, don't go off for that long again with out telling me alright?"

"Sorry, I didn't mean to worry you." Alex answered ashamedly "I just met this guy and he was helping me gather firewood and we talked so I lost track of time."

Wolf frowned "Then where is he now?"

Alex went to investigate the area that the mysterious boy seemed to be hiding. "I don't know; he took off as soon as he heard you call me."

Wolf's frown deepened but he let the matter drop. "What are you looking at?" he noticed that Alex was examining the ground where he stooped with great interest.

"What's this?" Alex asked interestedly

Wolf stooped down by him and studied the circular patch of ground with a fading painted metal circle pressed into it. The pattern on the metal was like a coat of arms with a green snake, red bear and blue bird on it. After a moment a slow smile spread across his face.

"What is it?" Alex asked eagerly

"I totally forgot about this." Wolf laughed to himself as he pried the metal cover out of the ground. Alex was getting impatient though, so he explained.

"All the way back when I was twelve and Raimundo was eleven, he came up with the idea that we write a letter to ourselves now and open it when we're twenty-one to see if we'd fulfilled any of our childhood ambitions. After we wrote them we dug this hole, booby trapped it and hid the letters in there until we came back for it around ten years later. Raimundo designed the cover so we'd always remember the spot. 'Always in the area where the good wood was.'" Wolf was thoughtful for a moment. "I really don't remember what I wrote."

"Cool." Alex said "Do you mind if I see?"

"No, go ahead, but make sure your arm doesn't touch the sides; it's lined with poison ivy."

Alex stretched into the hole and brought out two beer bottles and gave them to Wolf who after checking them out broke one of them on a stone and extracted the roll of paper from the mess. Alex watched over his shoulder as he read.

If you are older than twenty-one when you read this then you're either just like regular grown-ups who forgets the little things in life or you've dismissed the idea as childish and only just ran into it for some reason, Either way I hope you're doing something more interesting and prestigious than what dad does. I hope that by this time you are either a General in the SAS, a physicist, or a hydraulics engineer. If you aren't already married then remember to make sure your future wife is not like mom. She's too unreasonable and mean. If you are married though, don't forget the promise you made to be good to ALL your kids. Remember to try your hardest to be at the top of the charts in whatever it is you're doing because as Santiago says "Great men aren't born that way." Last, I hope everyone is doing well and that we still stick up for one another.

Yours Truly

Twelve year- old Andros Mendoza

Alex looked at Wolf for a second afterwards, "You were an ambitious kid weren't you?" he asked

"We all were." He answered quietly lost in thought.

After a moment he replaced the cover and rose from the spot leaving the other bottles behind.

"Don't you want to read the others?" Alex asked

"Not really, they're not mine to read ."

Alex nodded and followed him back to the camp site with some of the fire wood.

When they reached the now expertly erected tent, Wolf asked "Do you know how to kindle firewood?"

Alex gave him a look.

"What? I honestly don't know. I would assume that you do since you seem to be a smart kid but then again maybe not."

"Yes I do, since I was six." Alex rolled his eyes taking away the flint and twig Wolf had been set to teach him with.

"Every other month or so, when he was alive, my Uncle Ian would take me on an extreme sport, survival or cultural outing. So I learned a lot with him," Alex continued somewhat wistfully.

"Well then," Wolf answered in an effort to keep the mood light "I'll let you lead, just to see how much you know."

"Okay" Alex agreed as he got the fire safely started.

That night they sat under the stars trading memories and eventually jokes until when they finally went to sleep in the darkest hours of the night both had found out a lot more about the kind of person the other was and had had many a good laugh as well.

Next day in the wee hours of the morning, Wolf lay on his back thinking, which he didn't do often, while Alex still slept in the sleeping bag next to him. The whole ordeal with Alex and Scorpia and then the recollection of what had happened to Raimundo, especially Santiago's side of it all, had set him thinking. It was true that anytime he thought about the incident that killed his little brother, he blamed himself, but only from a logical point of view. It's not like he thought he was supposed to have been able to perform some sort of miracle but he knew that if he had made certain decisions then and there, Raimundo's life could have been spared.

It also irked him somewhat that he had survived the same fall; barely yes, but survived nonetheless. Wolf was far beyond thinking simply in fair and unfair terms but it still made him feel badly.

To his left Alex was beginning to stir and he turned to watch the child for a moment thinking about all that he'd learned about him. He definitely had experienced his fair share of grief and pain for one so young but he was an interesting and multifaceted person despite it all. A moment later Wolf realized that Alex wasn't awakening, but was having a nightmare, most likely concerning his recent ordeal. The next second he shot up from his sleeping bag with wide but clear eyes. He shook his head to clear it and mumbled something about dying.

"What?" Wolf asked startling the youth further

"I said I'm glad I always wake before I actually die." He frowned "How long have you been awake?"

Wolf got up and stretched "A little while now, you okay?"

"Yeah" Wolf nodded and stepped outside of the tent to see about breakfast while Alex dressed. When he immerged, Wolf was setting two eggs to roast.

"I've never had roasted egg before." Alex stated "Though I've been offered a raw one."

Wolf looked at him quizzically "Who eats raw eggs?"

"An insane Russian general who thinks he can use nuclear weapons to return Russia to its former glory."

Wolf stared at Alex for a moment then went back to poking the eggs. "Sarov, right?" recalling what Alex had told him in the park.

"Yep"

After eating the eggs and crackers Alex asked "So what's up for today?"

"I was thinking we could go either hunting or rowing. It depends on whether you're up to it."

"Why can't we do both?"

"Because they both take all day and even though this is supposed to be fun I don't want you to overexert yourself."

"Fine," Alex huffed in annoyance at Wolf protectiveness

"Wolf grinned "So which will it be?"

"Rowing."

They made a small trek through the woods until they came to a boat house on the bank of a small lake, It was in dire need of repairs and an elderly man stood in the doorway smoking a pipe. When he saw Wolf his mouth fell open for a second before he let out a hearty laugh.

"Andros, you wayward youth! Where have you been?" The men clapped each other on the back in greeting.

"Busy." Wolf explained not seeming to mind being called a youth by this man.

"Ah, too busy for a poor old man I see."

Wolf opened his mouth to say something but the old man beat him to it. "Ah, but I understand that a mighty soldier doesn't have time for the lesser things in life, no?"

"D-" Wolf tried to interject

"Which is why I ask what brings you here now?"

"I'm on-"

"And who's the lad over there, your son?" Up until now Alex had been pretty much forgotten.

Wolf gave the man a withered look. "Do I look old enough to have a son that age?"

The man chuckled.

"This is Alex. Alex meet Don."

"Nice to meet you" Alex answered.

Don nodded in what seemed to be approval and then asked Wolf: "Then if he isn't your son, who is he?"

"He's a friend of mine and we came up here to hang out a bit, that's why I came to ask-"

"Can you borrow a boat?" Don finished for him

"Well?" Wolf asked

"I have to think about it." The man made a show of considering it.

Wolf resisted the urge to roll his eyes.

"I suppose." The man finally conceded. He led them into the rundown shack where he had two boats. Alex glanced around at the dismal state of the structure as Wolf picked out theirs.

"Your friend here has been promising to fix this place for years but I guess a poor old man isn't important enough to be remembered." Don called to Alex as he noticed him staring.

Alex stared at Wolf "We could do it now if you want. I would help him and we'd still have time to go rowing. What do you say?" He knew he was placing himself in a situation by putting Wolf on the spot like that and the man confirmed it by sending him a death glare, but Don was grinning from ear to ear when he said he would.

"Do you have the tools and the wood?" Wolf asked

"Yep right back here." He scrambled over to another room that was piled with planks of wood and a bucket of old tools in a corner. "I bought them a couple years back when you said you'd be up here in a-"

"Okay I remember." Wolf broke in before he could feed more notions of Wolf being a supremely unreliable person into Alex's head.

Alex however was thoroughly enjoying himself

While Don directed them, Alex and Wolf got to work measuring and sawing wood to repair the most dilapidated parts of the shack.

By high noon, all three men were satisfied with their work. The place was looking much more appealing than before and the roof of the living quarters no longer leaked. Some other places need repair too but they could wait.

"The rain can come as much as he likes now." Don beamed. "Thank you boys."

"I suppose it was long over due." Wolf answered "But now we're off, see you around Amigo."

"Permanecen en contacto los jóvenes uno." Don called to him as he climbed into the boat.

"Pretenderé" Wolf answered.

After Don had went back inside Alex said " I was supposed to get in first Wolf."

Wolf grinned at him evilly, with something hidden behind his back "You don't think I was going to let you get away with that did you?"

"And the way get back at me is making me push off the boat?" Alex asked incredulously, but it was too late by the time he realized what Wolf was doing. Just as Alex was stepping into the boat that was now drifting, Wolf leaned against the siding of the boat, pitching Alex into the water with a comical look of surprise on his face.

Alex resurface, glaring at Wolf, only to find him grinning wildly with a camera in his hand.

"The look on you're face was golden Alex and I got it on film," He laughed holding up the camera "It'll definitely be useful someday."

Alex spat water out of his mouth and scowled "Put it away and help me out of the water." he demanded.

Still laughing Wolf put it in its case and cautiously grasped Alex's hand. He was not oblivious to the fact that the boy was obviously seeking revenge.

Alex took hold of his arm and pulled as hard as he could. Sure enough Wolf came tumbling head first into the water too despite his precaution. Keeping a boat steady was much harder than tipping it after all. Now Alex was screaming with laughter swimming out of reach.

"The look on _your_ face was absolutely priceless Wolf. You'd better be glad _I _didn't have a camera too."

Wolf found himself grinning despite himself.

"You'd better catch the boat before it drifts away." Wolf pointed out since Alex was closer.

The rest of the day was just as interesting and by the time they were building the fire for the evening meal Alex was exhausted and Wolf was comfortably tired. They ate the evening meal in companionable silence, until they heard a twig snap not far from where they sat.

Alex peered into the darkness as Wolf shouted "Whose there?"

A figure rushed past some trees close to their clearing and Alex caught a glimpse of the boy he'd met the day before.

"Hey it's you, wait!" Alex shouted, rushing into the trees but the boy had vanished. Alex was sure he'd run because of Wolf.

"Who was that Alex?' Wolf demanded

"The kid I met yesterday when I was looking for fire wood. He keeps running when you come near."

Wolf frowned and went back to his dinner more vigilant than before.

The next morning Alex got up before Wolf to explore the woods. He told himself it was exploring but he really wanted to see if he could find the mysterious boy.

He was almost sure he would find him in these woods again and as crazy as it sounded it considering that the boy had never met Wolf before, he knew he ran every time he thought _Wolf_ was near and in the spirit of his usually daring personality the mystery only served to lure Alex in rather than scare him off.

Sure enough Alex found him searching through the bushes for something again. It occurred to him the kid looked kind of familiar but what was more interesting was the fact that he didn't seem to know what he was looking for.

"Hey there" Alex called softly so as not to startle him. "Want some help?"

The boy with no name seemed to have already known he was there because he gave absolutely no indication of surprise.

"I don't really know what I'm looking for," he confirmed "I just _know _it's missing."

He made his way gradually towards Alex and Wolf's Camp and Alex some how felt sorry for him. He just seemed like a lost soul wondering around with no where to go.

"Where's your family? Alex asked

"I told you I'm looking for something."

Alex switched tactics "Why do you run away every time my friend comes near?"

"Who is your friend?"

"The man who was looking for me yesterday, Wolf."

"Wolf" The boy repeated, confused "I don't know," he admitted

"I can introduce you to him and you can see his not all that bad. I don't think he'd mind meeting you"

As the mysterious boy opened his mouth to answer, they heard Wolf shouting

"ALEX, get back here NOW!"

"Geez, you'd think I'd done something." Alex complained as he turned to the boy, but he was gone.

Alex was more than a little surprised by this but he answered Wolf and hurried along.

"I'm coming."

When he got to the camp Wolf wasn't quite livid but definitely angry.

"What the hell did you mean by going off like that?"

"What do you mean; I didn't do anything except explore the woods a bit how can-"

"Did it occur to you that when I got up and found you missing I might want to know where you where?"

"But it was just-"

"People have been known to get attacked in those woods. I'm not saying you can't go, just let me know." He ran his hand through his hair that was growing out from a close crop "If this is how you normally are then I think I know how Jack must feel."

Alex sighed "I didn't mean to worry you I was just exploring a little before you got up."

"Fine" he sighed as well "I guess I overreacted I just don't want Jack to get on my case if something happens to you."

Alex smiled knowing that was not exactly the case. "Did you plan out today too?"

"Yeah I think we'd both appreciate a hike through these woods in particular."

"Okay then, lead the way." Alex said regaining his previous enthusiasm.

Their hike was mostly silent and meditative; it was simply relaxing to quietly make their way to the top of the hill pointing out things now and then. The most significant thing they found before reaching the top of the hill, was a bear. Alex was the one who'd spotted it.

"Wolf, look." Alex had whispered, but when the man hadn't acknowledged, he tapped him on the shoulder and pointed to the large brown bear a few feet from them, in awe.

Wolf had smiled and nodded as they stilled themselves to watch and when the bear had finally looked up and seen them, she gave them no heed and eventually lumbered past them as though knowing they meant no harm.

The next thing that happened was both terrifying and wonderful at the same time.

When they arrived at the top of the hill and immerged from the surrounding trees at evening, the view was truly breathtaking.

"Wow" Alex breathed as he took in the enormity of it all.

"I know" Wolf agreed "I'm not one to go on nature walks often but when you see something like this you can't help but admire it. It kind of reminds you of how small you puny you really are."

"Exactly" Alex agreed. Seeing the rolling hills and the sky meeting ground with the sun burning in between as a formidable red disc, really brought you close to earth.

After watching the sun go down for a while but not completely Wolf turned around to get something from their packs that they'd rested against a tree.

When Wolf turned but didn't move again for a while, Alex broke away from the scene to see what the matter was.

What he saw frightened him to no end. He'd never seen Wolf terrified before. Sad yes, angry, maybe even a little scared, but not like this, this terrified frozenness was something else altogether.

Looking beyond Wolf he saw the point of focus and his stomach dropped. He realized why he'd thought the boy looked familiar. Seeing them together, he realized they were similar enough to be brothers.

"Y-You!" Alex stuttered momentarily stunned again "You're Raimundo."

The boy glanced at Alex but didn't answer.

Wolf regaining some composure gulped and asked in a mostly steady voice. "You've seen him before?"

"Yes," Alex answered "He was the one who helped me find the firewood and who ran last night and this morning I was talking to him again."

Wolf took a deep breath "So then either we're both hallucinating or you're for real."

"I'm looking for something." he said "I think you have it."

Wolf and Alex looked at each other. "He'd been looking for something since I met him but he doesn't know what." Alex offered

"Where did you lose it?" Wolf cautiously asked

The boy seemed to think for a moment "over here" he finally said. He started to walk in the direction that they'd come in. They walked for what seemed an eternity with Alex often questioning the sanity in following what was obviously a ghost. But Wolf seemed alright with it. Long after the sun set and the starts and moon took its place, the group stopped at the spot where Raimundo had died. Alex knew it before Wolf said anything. Then the apparition sat down on the edge of the precipice and said "I lost it down there. If I wait awhile I'm sure I'll find it." he turned to Wolf who was taking it all surprisingly well. "I know you have it I just don't know how to get it. I think if we all think about it we'll figure it out. I'm very tired but I need to find it before I go."

Wolf took in the image of his younger brother in what could pass for the flesh and the fact that he was a wondering soul looking for his rest. Sighing, Wolf placed his headin his hand beginning to despair because he couldn't figure out how to help his brother this once. After a moment Alex tapped him on the shoulder "Wolf I think you're doing something you shouldn't."

Wolf looked and saw that Raimundo was much farther over the edge. "Looking at him Raimundo frowned "It doesn't work when you do that. You have to try doing it differently."

Wolf started really thinking now and so did Alex.

"Wolf you still blame yourself, don't you?"

Wolf's silence answered for him. Then he said 'But I shouldn't"

Then Raimundo looked at Wolf again from a comfortable perch and started to talk.

"You know big bro, Where I went was really nice so comfortable and safe but everybody else had something that I didn't. I realized that I had to comeback to get mine but I don't know what it is. But I know that when I find it will be good for both of us and you'll be happy too."

Wolf smiled and nodded his head. "Who do you think sent you there?"

"I don't know. But I like being there I want to go back but I sometimes miss you too."

Wolf hugged him and got up. "I know what you mean, I'm going to miss you too Little bro. I hope I see you again when I come."

"Thanks, I'll look for you but I know it won't be so hard to find." The two brothers hugged each other and Alex could have sworn he saw a younger form of Wolf for a second then Raimundo disappeared before their eyes and they heard him say. "Thank you Andros and you too Alex I found it."

They were silent for about an hour Alex contemplating what he'd just seen as Wolf just stood by the edge of the cliff thinking. When Alex had looked up once he saw a tear shining in his eye but now there was just a little smile as he turned to head back to the camp. As Alex fell into step beside him Wolf put a friendly arm around his shoulder.

"Thanks Alex, for everything."

**There you have it everyone, I hope this chapter makes up for the long wait. I promise to update my nest two stories soon and as before thanks to all.**

**Good Night**


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